JUST IN: SCA sets aside court order to repatriate former Zambian president Edgar Lungu’s remains
· Citizen
The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) has delivered a landmark judgment, setting aside a previous order of the Gauteng High Court that granted the Zambian government authority to bury former Zambian president Edgar Lungu.
The SCA on Tuesday overturned the North Gauteng High Court’s judgment handed down last year that authorised the Zambian government to repatriate Lungu’s remains for a state funeral and burial.
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Ruling
The family can now bury Lungu in South Africa, according to his wishes.
Delivering judgment, Justice Raylene Keightley ruled that South African constitutional protections for dignity, privacy and family autonomy, together with common law principles recognising the rights of next of kin, supported the family’s position.
“In the absence of proof of such an agreement, the family’s constitutional rights to dignity, privacy, and family autonomy prevail.
“The appeal is upheld with costs, including the costs of two counsel where so employed. The order of the high court is set aside and is replaced by the following order: The application is dismissed with costs, including those of two counsel where so employed,” Keightley ruled.
Appeal
The family had sought leave to appeal the earlier ruling denying their request to bury Lungu in South Africa, escalating the matter to the SCA.
Lungu died in June, sparking a legal battle between his family and the Zambian government over his final resting place.
In its judgment, the high court held that there were no reasonable prospects of success for the appeal.
It also rejected the family’s contention that Zambian law had no extraterritorial effect and therefore should not apply in South Africa.
Legal dispute
Lungu died on 5 June in Pretoria, aged 68.
The Zambian government offered to repatriate his body for a state funeral, and although an agreement was reached, the family later accused the government of breaching it and announced plans to bury him in South Africa.
The high court suspended the burial on 25 June and, on 8 August, ordered that his body be returned to Zambia for a state funeral.
The family then appealed the ruling.
Burial
Lungu’s burial has been the subject of a months-long dispute between Zambia’s government, which had planned a state funeral for him in Lusaka.
His wife, Esther, and seven other family members want him buried at Fourways Memorial Park in Johannesburg.
They claimed that Lungu made clear before he died that his successor, current Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema, should have no role in his funeral arrangements.