South African court stops former Zambian president’s burial.

Lungu's funeral feud.

The Funeral of the former Zambian president Edgar Lungu has been stopped, while mourners waited in a cathedral in Johannesburg following family and state pending feud between the Lungu family and Lungu's successor, Hichilema.

A high court judgement in Pretoria ordered was given to stop Edgar Lungu’s burial at the Cathedral of Christ the King in central Johannesburg be stopped on Wednesday morning after a last-minute request by Zambia’s attorney general.

Lungu’s wife arrived at the cathedral shortly after the judge’s order, and a mass was held instead. The judge ordered a full hearing to take place on 4 August 2025.

The attorney general, Mulilo Kabesha, says state funerals with full military honours were required by law, citing a previous local court ruling on the burial of Zambia’s first president, Kenneth Kaunda.

The high court ruled that a former president is not a private arrangement, is not private property, is national property, and his burial should be handled by the state. The moment that a national mourning is declared, the law kicks in.

Court papers filed by Kabesha said a grave had been prepared for Lungu in the national cemetery, where all other former presidents are buried.

Political dynamics 

Hichilema defeated Lungu in a bitterly fought election in 2021, having lost to him in 2016. In 2017, Hichilema was sent to prison for four months on charges of treason after his convoy did not give way to Lungu’s presidential motorcade.

After Hichilema took power, Lungu accused his successor of targeting him, and in effect, placing him under house arrest, among other charges.

Last year, Edgar Lungu attempted to return to frontline politics, but was barred from running again for the presidency in next year’s election.