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Just hours after the Zambian government said it had taken possession of ex-President Edgar Lungu’s body, a court in South Africa – where Lungu died – has ordered the body to be returned.<\/p>\n
It is the latest twist in a 10-month saga over what should happen to his remains following a long-standing feud between Lungu and his successor, President Hakainde Hichilema.<\/p>\n
The government has long maintained that, as a former head of state, Lungu should be honoured in the country and buried alongside his predecessors in the special presidential burial ground in the capital, Lusaka.<\/p>\n
But Lungu’s family wanted a private burial after negotiations with the government over the funeral arrangements broke down.<\/p>\n
Last August, the South African high court in Pretoria ruled that Zambia’s government could repatriate the body<\/a> and give him a state funeral – an outcome that left Lungu’s relatives visibly distraught in the courtroom.<\/p>\n The family appealed against the decision but, in a surprise announcement late on Wednesday night, Zambia’s government said Lungu’s remains had been “formally transferred” to the state by the South African court.<\/p>\n According to the statement, the transfer occurred after Lungu’s family were unable to “proceed with their case” at the appeals court.<\/p>\n But just a few hours later, the same South African court ordered the Zambian government to return the body.<\/p>\n To complicate matters further, Two Mountains Burial Services, the funeral home where Lungu’s remains were originally being kept, has reportedly said it will no longer accept the body.<\/p>\n Interviewed on a Zambian YouTube news channel, Lungu family spokesman Makebi Zulu disputed that the appeals process had lapsed, saying that the correct procedure had been followed.<\/p>\n The former president died of an undisclosed illness aged 68 at a clinic in South Africa’s capital, Pretoria. Chaos ensued following his death, with mourners receiving conflicting information from the government and Lungu’s political party<\/a>, the Patriotic Front (PF).<\/p>\n Two separate mourning periods were announced and at one point there were competing condolence books.<\/p>\n Lungu, who led Zambia from 2015 until 2021, had numerous rows with Hichilema, who was the opposition leader for many years before finally unseating his bitter rival.<\/p>\n After Lungu’s death, his family said the ex-president did not want Hichilema to be at his funeral or “anywhere near” his body.<\/p>\n Additional reporting by Nomsa Maseko in Johannesburg<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\nMore on this story:<\/h2>\n