The Zambian government intends to challenge a court order directing that the remains of former President Edgar Lungu be returned to Two Mountains after the Lungu family failed to prosecute their appeal.
In an application filed at the High Court in Pretoria, Attorney General Mulilo Kabesha says the order was granted ex parte, in the absence of the Government of Zambia, on April 22, 2026, and should be reconsidered and set aside.
He argues that members of the Lungu family are peregrini of the court and have both the power and motivation to move the late President’s body outside the Republic of South Africa.
He adds that if they proceed, as the government believes they are in the process of doing, it would cause irreparable harm to the Zambian government.
Meanwhile, the family of former President Edgar Lungu has asked the South African Court of Appeal to reinstate their appeal challenging a lower court order to repatriate his body for a state funeral in Zambia following his death on June 5, 2025.
The move follows the Registrar’s indication that the appeal had lapsed, leading to the release of Mr. Lungu’s body to the Zambian government for repatriation in line with the Pretoria High Court order.
In their founding affidavit, the Lungu family, through their lawyer Eddie Neo Mashele, argue that the execution of the order was unlawful.
They claim it was carried out without the Sheriff, that the family was neither informed nor present as required, and that the body was instead released to the South African Police Service, which they say is not authorised to take possession under the order.
By Darius Choonya
