State vs. Family: Zambia Intervenes to Stop Ex-President’s Burial in South Africa

On what was supposed to be the final farewell for Zambia’s former president Edgar Lungu, mourners gathered at a cathedral in Johannesburg on June 25, 2025. The air was thick with solemnity. A coffin, draped in the Zambian flag, sat at the altar. But instead of lowering the late leader into the earth, the service was abruptly halted. A South African court had intervened at the last minute issuing an injunction that stopped Lungu’s burial from proceeding.

For most Zambians, it was a moment of deep confusion. Why was a former head of state being buried outside his own country? Why did Zambia’s government try so hard to stop it? And how did a personal family decision turn into a transnational legal showdown? 

To understand what happened, one must begin with the life and legacy of Edgar Lungu.

Lungu served as Zambia’s president from 2015 until 2021, when he lost the presidency to Hakainde Hichilema, a longtime political rival. Their relationship was infamously tense, marked by arrests, political accusations, and sharp policy divides. Even after leaving office, Lungu remained a potent force in Zambia’s politics, frequently criticizing Hichilema’s government and maintaining close ties to the opposition Patriotic Front party. As his health declined, Lungu relocated to South Africa, where he received treatment and, ultimately, died. 

What followed was a deeply controversial decision by his family: to bury him in Johannesburg, far from Zambian soil. According to the family, Lungu had made it clear that he did not want a state funeral and he specifically requested that President Hichilema not be involved in any way. The family saw a private burial abroad as the only way to fulfill his final wishes with dignity.

But for Zambia’s government, this was unacceptable. Officials viewed the late president not as a private citizen, but as a former head of state whose death required national recognition and protocol. By law and custom, Zambian presidents are buried at Embassy Park in Lusaka, a state memorial reserved for leaders. To allow Lungu to be buried in a foreign country, outside the reach of national mourning and without official ceremony, would be, they argued, a disservice to history and the Zambian people.

Tensions mounted as the family moved forward with plans for a Johannesburg burial. The government filed an urgent petition in a South African court, arguing that Lungu was “national property” and could not be buried outside Zambia without violating national law and robbing citizens of their right to collectively grieve. 

Then, just hours before the burial was set to begin, the Pretoria High Court sided with the Zambian state halting the ceremony and scheduling a full hearing for August 4, 2025. The court gave Zambia until July 4 to present its full arguments, with the family required to respond by July 11. Until then, the coffin would remain unopened, the body unburied.

The decision has stirred fierce debate across both Zambia and South Africa. Supporters of the family say the state has no right to override a man’s last wishes, especially when those wishes are rooted in mistrust of the very government now claiming to honor him. Others argue that Lungu, for all his flaws, was a national leader whose burial belongs not to his family alone but to the people of Zambia.

As of now, Edgar Lungu’s body remains in limbo. His family held a quiet prayer service in Johannesburg, while court proceedings wait to resume in August. Back in Zambia, emotions are running high. The ruling party insists on a proper state burial. The opposition accuses the government of overreach. And a nation once again finds itself split over the legacy of a man who, in life and death, was never easy to place.

Whether Lungu will eventually return home or rest forever in exile remains one of the most contentious questions facing Zambia today.