SA court halts Lungu funeral as Zambia demands return of former President
The attorney-general of Zambia approached the court to halt Lungu’s burial through an interim interdict on Wednesday.
Zambia's President Edgar Lungu attends a signing ceremony with France's President at the Elysee Palace in Paris, on 8 February 2016. Picture: AFP
JOHANNESBURG - The Pretoria High Court has halted the burial of Zambia’s former president Edgar Lungu in South Africa.
The attorney-general of Zambia approached the court to halt Lungu’s burial through an interim interdict on Wednesday.
The court challenge was the latest move in a feud between the Zambian government and Lungu's family over his burial.
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The family wants a private ceremony in South Africa, rather than a full state funeral at home – where Lungu had been embroiled in a long-standing feud with his successor, President Hakainde Hichilema.
The ruling comes as some family members gathered at the Cathedral of Christ the King in Hillbrow, Johannesburg, where the funeral was set to take place.
His family has agreed to halt his burial, pending the outcome of a court challenge over the location of his final resting place.
The Lungu family’s lawyer, Neo Mashele, explained: “The Lungu family would not proceed with the funeral arrangements for today. But we would wait for a time at which the matter would be properly ventilated in court. Pending the outcome of this urgent application that stands, the funeral will not go on. So, it was by agreement between the parties.”
Lungu died earlier this month at a Medical Centre in Pretoria, where he had been receiving specialised treatment.