⬆️ South African NGO Demands Probe into Edgar Lungu’s Death
Pressure is mounting in South Africa over the mysterious death of former Zambian President Edgar Chagwa Lungu, with a local civic group now demanding a formal investigation.
The Progressive Forces of South Africa (PFSA) delivered a memorandum on Monday to the Gauteng Provincial Police headquarters, urging authorities to open a criminal inquiry. The lobby group’s intervention adds another layer to the regional storm surrounding Lungu’s death on June 5 at Medforum Hospital in Pretoria.
At the time, reports suggested the 68-year-old former Zambian leader had died of cancer. Yet his family, senior Patriotic Front (PF) officials, and now civic groups in South Africa insist the circumstances remain suspicious. They allege poisoning, possibly with the knowledge or involvement of government agencies.
“There are allegations that former President Lungu didn’t die of cancer, that he was actually poisoned and that the South African government had a hand in his death together with agents of the Zambian government,” PFSA spokesperson Bonang Seboloane told journalists after submitting the petition.
Seboloane argued that the credibility of South Africa’s justice system was at stake. “We are asking the SAPS to investigate this matter so that we can clear our name as South Africans,” she said.
The civic demand comes against the backdrop of a bitter court fight in Lusaka. The Zambian government insists Lungu’s body must be repatriated for a state funeral, in line with protocol for former heads of state. But the Lungu family, led by his daughter Tasila Lungu Mwansa, is pushing to bury him in Johannesburg. Tasila herself told The Saturday Star newspaper on June 8 that she believed her father was poisoned.
Zambia’s PF secretary general Raphael Nakacinda has also publicly echoed the allegation, accusing South African authorities of complicity. “If government was innocent, it would have cleared its name by now,” he charged earlier this month.
The PFSA memorandum cites South Africa’s Inquests Act of 1959, which obligates authorities to investigate any death under suspicious or unnatural circumstances. It also points to Section 205(3) of the South African Constitution, which mandates the police to prevent, combat, and investigate crime.
Lungu’s death has become one of the most politically charged stories in the region this year. Once a central figure in Zambia’s opposition Tonse Alliance and the PF’s chosen candidate for 2026 before being barred by the courts, his passing has deepened political infighting at home. The family’s resistance to a state burial, coupled with conflicting reports about the cause of death, has fueled public mistrust.
For now, South Africa’s police have not confirmed whether a full inquiry will be launched. But with civic groups, opposition leaders, and Lungu’s own family demanding answers, the cloud over his final days is unlikely to lift anytime soon.
© The People’s Brief | Regional
Another twist and turn. Why’s this not coming from the family if Edgar Lungu’s death was suspicious? Well luckily the body’s not yet buried. So it can be settled in a matter of hours. But what does the death certificate say?
Wapya Munzi.People will start scampering in all directions.They will try to fight this one too but if Sasa afilika is involved,the truth will come out.People will know the reason behind this stumbling bloke to give the man a dignified funeral.Just hope no arrests to be made