SA pressure group wants inquest findings released
A South African pressure group has called for an update on investigations into claims that Zambia’s sixth president Edgar Chagwa Lungu was poisoned, describing the matter as a “cold case”.
The group, Progressive Forces of South Africa (PFSA), said law enforcement authorities in South Africa should make the findings of the inquest public to address the poisoning claims.
In February this year, the South African Police Service (SAPS) summoned five members of Mr Lungu’s family in connection with investigations into claims that the former president may have been poisoned.
In an interview with the Sunday Times in South Africa, PFSA president Mthetho Ngcukayitobi said the matter appeared to have gone cold following the Supreme Court judgment on the repatriation of Mr Lungu’s remains.
Mr Ngcukayitobi, however, said it was important that the poisoning investigations were concluded and findings made public to allay doubts arising from conspiracy theories surrounding the former president’s death.
He stressed that the South African state was lagging in concluding the inquest but that the pressure group would continue revisiting the matter.
He added that while the individuals who made the poisoning claims had distanced themselves from the claims, the state should still act accordingly and not overlook the matter.
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Mr Ngcukayitobi said the investigation should have been concluded by now as further delay risked denting diplomatic ties that the two countries enjoy.
