Edgar Lungu: Activists claim Zambian leader used Zimbabwean passport in South Africa

Activists under the umbrella of Progressive Forces of South Africa insist they have it on good authority that the late Zambian former president Edgar Chagwa Lungu was using a Zimbabwean diplomatic passport during his stay, before he was admitted and later died in a Pretoria hospital.

The allegations have been widely reported in different countries in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) following the death of the former president in June. 

Lungu passed away on June 5 at the private Mediclinic Medforum hospital in Pretoria CBD. A bitter cross-border wrangle has since erupted with the Zambian government seeking to repatriate his remains for an official state funeral.

However, Lungu’s family has, on the other hand, insisted on burying him in South Africa following a collapse of engagements.

Allegations have swirled around Lungu’s sojourn in South Africa, where he eventually passed away. Amid the reports of Lungu’s apparent obscure identity, the government of Zimbabwe rubbished the reports alleging that Lungu held a Zimbabwean diplomatic passport.

Earlier this month, Zimbabwe’s Permanent Secretary for Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Nick Mangwana, entered the fray, describing the widespread reports as "mischievous falsehoods".

“We wish to categorically state that the late former Zambian President, Mr Edgar Chagwa Lungu did not hold a Zimbabwean passport or nationality. Any such suggestions are just mischievous falsehoods,” Mangwana wrote on X.

The reports claimed Lungu had travelled to South Africa on a Zambian diplomatic passport, but he quickly switched to a Zimbabwean diplomatic passport under the alias “Tendai Munyaradzi” even when he was admitted to the Pretoria hospital. Allegations are that Lungu used the Zimbabwean passport to fly out and return to South Africa, before he was admitted to the hospital.

On Thursday, Progressive Forces of South Africa activists rekindled the allegations at a media briefing held in Midrand, adding that they have contacted the Department of International Relations (Dirco) and Home Affairs for clarity. The media briefing on Thursday was also addressed by multiple community organisations, including the Confederation of South Africans Unity represented by Cosmos Motha; Rea Aga Committee led by Michael Kgosana, and the Thembelihle Residents Association represented by Mary Tati. 

“It has now come to light, to us, that the former president Edgar Lungu was allegedly admitted into a Pretoria hospital under a false name. That forces us to ask critical questions on our own government. Who did South African authorities officially declare dead?" said Mthetho Ngcukayitobi, leader of the Progressive Forces of South Africa movement.

“This is not a trivial question. When a former head of state dies on South African soil, there are protocols and national guidelines and the national population register processed but in this case, none of these processes were properly followed.

“Instead, we are left with secrecy, irregularity and the risk of a diplomatic crisis unfolding on our watch. Why is our government so silent on this? Let us not forget why this matter is so sensitive for the people of Zambia,” he said.

Ngcukayitobi claimed that when Lungu arrived in South Africa on January 19, he was picked up from the airport by an Audi Q7 vehicle owned by a Zambian businessman based in South Africa.

IOL reported on Thursday that the Progressive Forces of South Africa activists are demanding that Lungu’s body be repatriated to Zambia for burial, not in South Africa as Lungu's family wishes.

“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 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”.

IOL reported last month that the government of the Republic of Zambia 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 the charges before the 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 the family's plans 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.

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