The Pretoria High Court in South Africa has dismissed an application by the family of the late former Zambian President Edgar Chagwa Lungu for leave to appeal a previous ruling, ordering them to pay the legal costs of the Zambian Government, including fees for two senior lawyers. This judgment effectively upholds the court's earlier decision which granted the Zambian government the right to repatriate Lungu's body for a state funeral and burial in Lusaka. The court had initially ruled in favor of the Zambian Government on August 8, 2025.

The Lungu family, including his widow Esther, children Tasila, Dalitso, and Chiyeso, along with relatives Charles Phiri and Bertha, and lawyer Makebi Zulu, had sought to appeal the High Court's earlier judgment to the Supreme Court. They argued that as the former president's heirs, they possessed the sole and exclusive right to decide on his burial arrangements. Furthermore, the family contended that the dispute, having arisen in South Africa, should be decided under South African law, and criticized the Zambian Government for allegedly failing to provide expert evidence on Zambian law. They also cited a private arrangement, referred to as “FAA7,” which they claimed authorized only them to manage the repatriation process.

However, the three-judge bench, led by Acting Judge President Aubrey Ledwaba, rejected all these arguments. The court clarified that Zambia’s Attorney General, Mulilo Kabesha, is an expert in Zambian law, thus discrediting the claim of insufficient expert evidence. It also firmly stated that Lungu’s removal from presidential benefits during his lifetime did not diminish his status as a former President, who remains entitled to a state funeral at state expense upon death. The judges emphasized that private arrangements like “FAA7” could not override the state’s authority in such matters. The High Court further concluded that the case was too fact-specific and did not raise broader compelling constitutional issues to warrant an appeal, making prospects for a superior court to encounter the same set of facts very low.

The ruling on September 16, 2025, sparked a strong reaction from Sean Tembo, President of the opposition People's Alliance for Change (PeP) and TONSE ALLIANCE Spokesperson, who expressed profound shock and disagreement. Tembo viewed the High Court's denial of the family's opportunity to seek a second opinion from a superior court as a