South African court denies burial appeal bid by family of former Zambian president Lungu

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — A court in South Africa has denied a legal bid by the family of former Zambian president Edgar Lungu to appeal a ruling that he must be buried in his own country.

Lungu, who served as the leader of Zambia from 2015-2021, died in a South African hospital in June. He was 68.

His family want him to be buried in South Africa and to bar current Zambian president President Hakainde Hichilema from attending or speaking at a state funeral service.

However, the Pretoria High Court ruled in August that the government of Zambia had a right to bury its former president, and ordered that his remains be handed over to the state.

On Tuesday, the same court confirmed its earlier ruling and denied the family leave to appeal, saying there were no prospects of an appeal succeeding in a higher court.

“We are satisfied that no compelling reasons exist to grant leave to appeal simply because the matter is so fact specific that there is very little to no prospects that the same set of facts will confront a court again,” the court's judgment said.

Lungu and Hichilema were sworn political rivals. Their conflict led to Hichilema’s imprisonment in 2017, when Lungu was president.

Last year, Lungu accused Hichilema’s government of using police to harass him and restrict his movements. His family also said the government had initially prevented him from traveling to South Africa for treatment, a charge the government denied.