The body of  former president, Edgar Chagwa Lungu must be repatriated to his home country and buried among his people.

This was the overall sentiment expressed in Midrand on Thursday as several South African civic movements gathered for a joint media briefing under the banner of Progressive Forces of South Africa.

“Our duty is to protect the country from internal and external threats. On the issue of Mr Edgar Lungu, this comes as a threat to South Africa as a nation. The question is, when a person of the stature of Mr Lungu is being buried, whose flag is being lowered? Is it our South African flag, or is it a Zambian flag? This is not anybody,” said Rachel Makhubele, secretary-general of Defend South Africa.

“He deserves dignity as the former president of Zambia. The issue of the family, as Defend SA we stand for transparency and accountability. The family should go back home and account for those crimes that we hear. South Africa is not a country where we harbour criminals. The government should try to control the level of criminals that are entering our South African country.

“We have the issue of illegal immigrants in South Africa, it is not a lie. We are dealing with this issue. If a person of Mr Lungu’s status is buried in South Africa, it will encourage many Zambian citizens to come here, saying they are coming to see their president’s grave. At the end of the day, they end up staying in South Africa,” she said.

Makhubele insisted that she was not being xenophobic, but her organisation is “trying to protect what belongs to us”.

The government of the Republic of Zambia last month said it will abide by the ruling of South African courts in the tense standoff over the burial of the mortal remains of the country’s former president.

One of Africa’s deepest episodes of political rivalry and animosity is playing out before South African courts, with Lungu’s family saying one of the former president’s dying wishes was that his successor and political nemesis, Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema, should not go anywhere near his body.

However, state funeral arrangements made in Zambia, in anticipation of receiving the former president’s mortal remains in Lilongwe, had Hichilema at the center, as the commander-in-chief of the Zambian Defence Forces. The Zambian government had planned State funeral arrangements in Zambia, in anticipation of receiving the former president’s mortal remains in Lilongwe, with Hichilema at the center of the ceremony.

Bonang Sepoloane, national organiser of Progressive Force of South Africa, said the family of the late president has to go back to Lusaka and answer regarding the charges before courts.

“As South Africans, we know very well, we have the issue of land since colonisation and also apartheid. We have land claims that are being claimed via ancestry lineage. Graves are part of the instruments that we use when we want to claim the land. In the future, we are going to have an issue of Lungus in the generation to come and claim land in South Africa, pointing to their grandfather’s grave. 

She acknowledged that Zambia played a pivotal role towards the independence of different African nations, including South Africa.

Zambia still has graves of several South African freedom fighters who were exiled during apartheid. Some of the skeletal remains of the freedom fighters have recently been repatriated back to South Africa.

“We are not fighting the Zambians. What we will not allow is the current African leaders who loot coffers of their people, to come and enjoy the loot in peace, in South Africa. We know very well that African leaders have been looting their countries, and going to enjoy these resources in Europe and the West. 

“With this case, we have now found that there are more looters who have found a haven in our country South Africa,” said Sepoloane.

Indigenous monarch King Khalo la Bataung Jacob Hlalele of the Bataung ba Hlalele Royal Kingdom sent condolences to the Lungu family and the people of Zambia. He however insisted that Lungu’s body must be buried in Zambia.

“I am saying, it will be a taboo if we can let the Zambian president be buried here. Everybody, according to the traditions, culture and rituals, must be buried where the elders’ bones and graves are. No negotiations. I do not need to say anything. This is our people and this is what we know,” he said.

“Let the Zambian president go and be buried where his ancestors are close.” 

Mthunzi Luthuli from the Progressive Civics Congress also added his voice, saying Lungu should be buried amongst his people, particularly in the designated area reserved for leaders.

“It cannot be that people come from foreign countries to bury their presidents here in South Africa,” he said.

Last month, IOL reported that the High Court in Pretoria had unexpectedly halted plans by the family to bury the former president in South Africa. The court ruling was delivered just moments before a private ceremony was set to commence on Wednesday. The court ruled that a full hearing on the merits of the case will take place on 4 August.

jonisayi.maromo@iol.co.za

IOL News  

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