The ongoing legal dispute involving the burial of former Zambian President Edgar Lungu has taken another turn as South Africa’s Constitutional Court refused the Lungu family’s urgent request to appeal a previous court ruling. Edgar Lungu, who died on June 5, 2025, in Pretoria at the age of 68 due to an undisclosed illness, was at the center of this legal battle.

Earlier, on August 25, 2025, the Pretoria High Court ruled that the family must hand over President Lungu’s body to Zambian authorities. This decision required that his remains be repatriated to Zambia for a state funeral in the capital city, Lusaka.

The dispute began soon after Lungu’s death when the family sought to conduct a private burial ceremony in South Africa. However, the Zambian government insisted that, as a former head of state, Lungu should be honored with a national funeral in his home country. The high court supported this position, emphasizing that Lungu’s status as a former president meant he “belongs to the nation of Zambia” and should be accorded the respect of a public burial.

With the Constitutional Court’s recent ruling declining to grant leave to appeal, the family’s legal options in South Africa have effectively been exhausted. The decision clears the way for the repatriation of Edgar Lungu’s remains and the organization of a dignified state funeral in Lusaka.

As Zambia prepares to lay its former leader to rest, the nation looks forward to a ceremony befitting his role and contributions.

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