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The High Court in South Africa has temporarily suspended the burial of Zambia’s sixth Republican President, Edgar Chagwa Lungu.
The decision follows an application filed by the Zambian government, through the Attorney General, challenging the family’s plan to bury the late former president in South Africa.
In its interim ruling, the court granted the Zambian government until July 3, 2025, to file arguments justifying why Mr. Lungu should not be buried outside his home country.
The matter has been scheduled for hearing on July 18, 2025.
Last week, the family announced that Lungu would be buried in South Africa.
This followed a standoff between the Zambian government and the Lungu family regarding the repatriation of his remains. In response, President Hakainde Hichilema on Wednesday, June 19, declared the end of the national mourning period and issued an apology to South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, the government, and the people of South Africa for the impasse.
The family spokesperson described the past weeks as an emotionally challenging period for the family.
“We are grateful for the overwhelming support and condolences extended to the family from across the continent and the globe,” Zulu said.
After the family of late former President Lungu announced that his funeral and burial will take place in South Africa, where he passed away on June 5, 2025, efforts to resolve the diplomatic and logistical deadlock surrounding his final resting place have intensified.
President Hakainde Hichilema on Sunday hosted South Africa’s Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Ronald Ozzy Lamola, at State House in Lusaka, in a bid to break the impasse that has left the nation in uncertainty over the burial of its sixth Republican President.
President Hichilema revealed in a Facebook posting on Sunday on June 22, 2025 that: “We were honoured to receive a courtesy call from Ronald Ozzy Lamola, Minister of International Relations and Cooperation of the Republic of South Africa who on behalf of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa who conveyed his condolences on the passing of sixth President Edgar Lungu.”
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