The South African Supreme Court has set aside judgement on the burial dispute of the late former Zambian President Edgar Lungu.

The SA Supreme Court of Appeal, however, says it will deliver the judgement urgently once it scrutinises the arguments, considering the fact it has been almost a year since Lungu died.

Today's hearing of appeal was probably the longest of all court sessions, as it took close to four hours of deliberations.

The lawyer representing the family, Thembeka Ngcukatoibi, argued on behalf of the family that the Pretoria High Court misdirected itself by applying Zambian law in South African territory when it delivered the August 2025 judgement which initially favoured the Zambian government.

Ngcukatoibi told the panel of the Supreme Court of Appeal that his client, the widow Esther Lungu, told him that the family clearly states that it does not want anything to do with the government of Zambia when it comes to Lungu's funeral.

But Ben Stoop, the lawyer representing the government of Zambia, has also submitted that the earlier judgement should be upheld because the deceased was a national person.

Stoop contended that late Lungu was not for the family but for the nation; therefore, Ubuntu demands that public interest must override the family's interest.

He further reminded the court that Lungu's grave has already been prepared for his burial at Embassy Park in Lusaka, Zambia, where the rest of the deceased presidents have been buried, including Founding President Kenneth Kaunda, whose will was explicit that he never wanted to be buried there.

The court then adjourned to scrutinise the arguments and submissions to close the matter.

Lungu died on 5 June 2025 in South Africa, where he was undergoing medical treatment.

Since then, his immediate family and government have been involved in legal battles over his burial rites.