A new twist has emerged to the controversy surrounding the burial of late Zambian former President Edgar Lungu after court in Pretoria South Africa halted such plans.
The Pretoria High Court issued a restraining order to go ahead with the burial in South Africa hours before the private ceremony was about to get under way.
Lungu’s family has been mired in a feud with the government. The Zambian government had filed an urgent case in the Pretoria High Court seeking to stop the burial planned by his family.
The court said that the funeral would not go ahead following an “agreement between the parties” however it appears that any funeral won’t happen until August at the earliest.
South Africa’s High Court, sitting in Pretoria, on Wednesday granted an urgent order preventing the funeral of former Zambian President Edgar Lungu from going ahead.
The Zambian government this week lodged a last-minute case with the South African High Court seeking an order to stop the private burial of the former president in South Africa.
The court ruled on Wednesday that Lungu should not be buried until a disagreement between him family and the government of President Hakainde Hichilema over the former Zambian leader’s final resting place are settled.
The ruling comes amid a dispute between the Lusaka authorities and Lungu’s family. Lungu, who died in Pretoria on 5 June, was due to be buried in South Africa on Wednesday. The judge set a 4 August date for another hearing.
JN/abj/APA