A South African judge on Wednesday halted the burial of former Zambian president Edgar Lungu, even as his funeral service was already in progress.

This action marks an escalation in the ongoing dispute between Lungu’s family and the Zambian government regarding his final resting place.

Lungu, who passed away on June 5 while receiving medical treatment in South Africa, was a political rival of current Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema.

Hichilema had intended to hold a state funeral for his predecessor in Zambia. However, Lungu’s family opposed these plans, preventing his body from being repatriated and stating that Lungu would not have wanted Hichilema to attend his funeral.

In response, Zambia filed a lawsuit to stop the burial from proceeding in South Africa.

In a ruling delivered as Lungu’s widow and other mourners gathered at a church, a Gauteng High Court judge announced that, following an agreement between the involved parties, the “respondents undertake not to proceed with the funeral or burial of the late president.”

The case is now scheduled for a full hearing on August 4.

South African national broadcaster SABC carried the decision live, showing images of the interrupted service for Lungu, who served as president from 2015 to 2021.

Zambian lawmaker Chanda Katotobwe, who was part of the delegation at the memorial service, told SABC News that the adjournment “is extending the pain, the grief, that the family and the people are going through.”

The cause of the 68-year-old former president’s death was not publicly announced, though his Patriotic Front party confirmed he had been receiving specialised treatment at a clinic in Pretoria.