JOHANNESBURG (AP) – The Zambian government filed court documents on Wednesday in an effort to prevent the private burial of former President Edgar Lungu in South Africa. This legal action came just an hour before his planned funeral service was set to begin. The government of Zambia is advocating for Lungu to receive a state funeral in Zambia, a proposal that has been rejected by his family due to longstanding tensions with current Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema.
Members of Lungu's family, dressed in black in mourning outfits, attended a hearing at a courthouse in Pretoria, which is the administrative capital of South Africa. The hearing's outcome would determine the future of Lungu's burial arrangements, but it remained unclear when a judge would release a decision. Edgar Lungu served as the President of Zambia from 2015 until 2021 and passed away on June 5, 2022, at the age of 68, while hospitalized in South Africa due to an undisclosed illness.
The necessity for a state funeral for Lungu in Zambia had been complicated, as arrangements for such an event had already been canceled twice due to disagreements over burial specifics. According to his family and legal representatives, Lungu had expressed specific instructions that current President Hichilema was not to attend his funeral. In contrast, the Zambian government has stated that Hichilema was expected to preside over the state funeral.
Zambia's Attorney General, Mulilo Kabesha, submitted an urgent injunction to a South African court a day prior to the funeral, as reported by Zambia's national broadcaster, ZNBC. The filed court papers assert that Lungu's burial should take place in Zambia with full military honors, aligning with Zambian law and the interests of the public, as indicated by ZNBC.
The funeral service for Lungu was scheduled to occur at a church in Johannesburg, located about 60 kilometers (or 37 miles) from Pretoria. Following the service, his family intended for him to be interred in a private ceremony.
The political dynamic between Lungu and Hichilema has been fraught with hostility. Lungu defeated Hichilema in the 2016 presidential election, which was followed by Hichilema's imprisonment for four months in 2017 on treason charges, stemming from an incident where his convoy failed to yield to the presidential motorcade on the road. This imprisonment was widely condemned by the international community, and the charges against Hichilema were later dropped, leading to his release.
In a significant turn of events, Hichilema triumphed over Lungu in the 2021 presidential elections. In the year that followed, Lungu accused Hichilema's administration of using law enforcement to limit his movements, effectively placing him under house arrest—a claim that the government has denied.
These ongoing tensions underline the complexities surrounding Lungu's death and the subsequent burial process, reflecting the broader political climate in Zambia.
