South Africa: court denies Lungu family appeal, orders burial in Zambia

Pretoria's High Court has denied an appeal by the family of late Zambian president Edgar Lungu, who wanted him to be buried in South Africa. According to the court, Lungu should however be buried in his home country.

It was the last resort for Edgar Lungu's family: the High Court in Pretoria however rejected their appeal against a decision to bury the late Zambian president in his home country on Tuesday.

Edgar Lungu, president of Zambia from 2015 to 2021, died in a South African hospital while undergoing treatment in June, aged 68.

His family have been adamant about his burial in South Africa, in an attempt to prevent current Zambian president Hakainde Hichilema, a fierce political rival, from attending or speaking at the funeral.

But the court in South Africa ruled last month that the Zambian government had the right to bury a former president and that it should receive Lungu's remains, which are currently still awaiting burial in a morgue in South Africa.

The family's appeal against this decision has now been rejected, and Lungu's body is expected to be handed over to Zambia.