Two Mountains Burial Services has alleged that the family of former President Edgar Chagwa Lungu is responsible for the legal complications surrounding the custody of his remains, arguing that the family “authored their own misfortune.”
In its joinder application, the burial service says the family failed to act on a lapsed appeal before South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA), despite receiving multiple warnings. According to the application, the family’s lawyers were notified on three separate occasions that the appeal had lapsed through a letter dated April 21, 2026, an email on April 22, 2026, and another correspondence dated April 21 but dispatched the following day.
Two Mountains further argues that the family was asked to file a condonation application and an application to reinstate the lapsed appeal within 24 hours, or risk the Zambian government executing the August 8, 2025 court order authorizing repatriation of the former president’s remains.
The company contends that the family’s ex parte urgent application amounts to an abuse of the court process and is calling for punitive costs, including counsel fees.
JUST TO UNLOCK YOUR MIND
The Pretoria High Court is scheduled to hear the matter tomorrow, April 30, 2026, as the Zambian government and the Lungu family continue their legal battle over custody of the former leader’s remains.
The government is challenging a recent urgent ruling that compelled it to return the body to a private mortuary a ruling issued shortly after authorities acted on the 2025 Gauteng High Court decision authorizing repatriation for a State funeral.
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