ATTORNEY General Mulilo Kabesha hss clarified that the family of late former president Edgar Lungu has not appealed against the Pretoria High Court ruling ordering the repatriation of Lungu’s remains to Zambia.
Kabesha explained that what the family has filed is an application for leave to appeal asking the court to allow them to appeal.
He stressed that leave to appeal is a formal request to the court asking for the right to lodge an appeal and that the court must first decide whether to grant or deny it.
The government chief legal advisor said only after leave is granted can the family proceed with an actual appeal.
“They have not filed an appeal. I have heard people say, they have filed an appeal. The family has filed leave to appeal. Leave to appeal is a request to the court,” he explained.
“The court will decide whether that leave or that application or that request has been granted. The court will consider that. And when the court gives them leave to appeal then they can file the appeal.”
On the question of whether the application halts the court’s order, Kabesha explained that, under South African law, filing an appeal suspends the execution of a judgment, but an application for leave to appeal does not automatically act as a stay unless the court orders otherwise.
He stated that the leave to appeal does not suspend the repatriation process but government has chosen to hear from the court today or any day this week.
“So there is no stay, there is supposed to be an order to stay. The application doesn’t act as a stay but according to South African law, if there is an appeal then all the processes are suspended until the appeal is heard,” said Kabesha.
The Attorney General revealed that in their application, the Lungu family has raised about 17 issues, including claims that the court erred in allowing the Zambian government’s request to have Lungu’s remains repatriated and buried at Embassy Park in Lusaka.
The family also argued that there was a dispute over whether Zambian or South African law should apply and contested the court’s order that President Hakainde Hichilema should attend the burial proceedings.
Kabesha said the family is not blaming the government but rather accusing the court of making mistakes in its judgment.
Following the August 8 ruling, the Pretoria High Court directed that Lungu’s body be immediately handed over to a representative of the Zambian government.
However, Kabesha said the remains are still at the funeral parlour where they have been since his death and have not yet been moved to the Zambian High Commission in Pretoria.
The Zambian government sued the Lungu family seeking to repatriate the late former president’s remains for a state funeral in his home country.
By Catherine Pule
Kalemba, August 11, 2025
