Zambia's government has taken possession of the body of former president Edgar Lungu, who died at a South African clinic in June 2025 while receiving treatment for an undisclosed illness, escalating a bitter dispute with his family over funeral arrangements. The attorney general confirmed that Lungu's remains had been removed from a funeral home in Pretoria, despite a family claim that a separate court order required the body to be returned to the facility; his relatives had sought a private burial in Johannesburg, explicitly excluding incumbent president Hakainde Hichilema, whom Lungu reportedly did not want near his body. A South African high court previously sided with the Zambian government and ordered the repatriation of Lungu's remains for a state funeral — a flashpoint reflecting the deep political animosity between the two men, given that Hichilema was arrested and held for four months on treason charges during Lungu's presidency before being released following international condemnation, and later defeated Lungu by a wide margin in the 2021 election.