SA's top court refuses to hear Lungu burial dispute

The Constitutional Court in South Africa has refused an application by the family of former Zambian President Edgar Lungu to appeal directly against a Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) order regarding the repatriation of his remains. The ruling underscores that litigants must follow established judicial procedures and cannot bypass lower courts to access the country’s highest court, reports the Lusaka Times. In its pronouncement, the Constitutional Court was categorical that no case had been made out for a direct appeal. Consequently, leave to appeal was refused. The decision was not a ruling on the substance of the burial dispute but a procedural one. The apex court allows direct access only in cases of exceptional urgency or questions of major constitutional importance. The judges concluded that the Lungu family had not met this threshold. As a result, the High Court’s earlier order, which directed that Lungu’s remains be repatriated to Zambia for burial, remains standing. However, because the Constitutional Court has declined direct involvement, the matter now returns to the ordinary appeal process. The family must first seek leave to appeal through the Gauteng High Court, and if unsuccessful, they may escalate to the SCA. Only after exhausting those routes can the Constitutional Court consider the case again. For the Lungu family, the ruling is a setback as it narrows their immediate legal options and removes the protective shield that a Constitutional Court intervention might have provided. While they can still pursue ordinary appeals, those processes are slower and less likely to prevent enforcement of the Pretoria order in the short term. For the Zambian Government, the decision strengthens its legal position. Officials in Lusaka have insisted that former Presidents must be buried at Embassy Park, the official Presidential burial site in Lusaka.

Full Lusaka Times report