CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — A legal battle over where former Zambian President Edgar Lungu’s remains will be buried may be over, more than a year after he died, as South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal ruled Tuesday in favor of his family and rejected the Zambian government’s claim of custody over his body.The ruling overturned a South African court decision that ordered the family to hand over Lungu’s remains to the Zambian government for repatriation.Lungu died in South Africa on June 5, 2025, at age 68. The Zambian government wanted his body to be buried at a cemetery set aside for the African nation’s leaders, but his family decided to bury him in South Africa.The dispute saw Lungu’s bitter rivalry with political opponent and current Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema continue after his death. His body has been at a mortuary while the legal battle played out.
Lungu’s family said it was honoring his last wishes that Hichilema come nowhere near his body and not preside over a state funeral for him in Zambia.The family’s funeral service for Lungu in South Africa last June was interrupted when the Zambian government filed an urgent court case arguing the country’s customs and protocols required he be buried at the national cemetery at home.
