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The legal battle over the final resting place of Zambia’s Sixth President, Edgar Lungu, has escalated to South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal, nearly six months after his death, following a decision granting his family leave to challenge a High Court ruling that authorised his repatriation for a state funeral.
According to a document signed by Supreme Court of Appeal Acting Chief Registrar ZVD Ntaka, the Lungu family is now cleared to file a substantive appeal against the Pretoria High Court’s decision delivered on August 8 this year.
Read more: Advocate to late President Lungu’s family labels Zambian govt’s case a legal fantasy
The application for leave to appeal was heard on December 11, 2025, before Justices Makgoka JA and Steyn AJA.
“Leave to appeal is granted to the Supreme Court of Appeal,” the order read, further setting aside the costs order of the lower court. The judges ruled that costs incurred both in the High Court and in the application for leave to appeal would be costs in the appeal.
The Pretoria High Court had ruled that the Zambian Government was entitled to repatriate former President Lungu’s remains and accord him a state funeral, despite objections from his family, who have maintained for months that he should be privately buried in South Africa, where he died in June after a prolonged illness.
Former President Lungu passed away on June 5, 2025, and since then, the dispute over his burial arrangements has evolved into a protracted legal confrontation spanning almost half a year, involving courts, diplomatic channels and multiple state institutions.
The family, including widow Esther Lungu, cited the Zambian Government, funeral service provider Two Mountains, and South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) as respondents, arguing that the High Court’s ruling violated their constitutional rights.
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