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Tendai Rupapa Senior Court Reporter
A South African businessman who crashed his helicopter in Gwanda and buried the wreckage after entering Zimbabwe illegally was on Friday jailed for an effective three-and-a-half years.
Fredrick Wilhelm August Lutzkie (52) pleaded guilty to 14 counts of contravening the Civil Aviation and the Immigration Acts when he appeared before Harare magistrate Mr Vakayi Chikwekwe.
Mr Chikwekwe sentenced him to seven years behind bars before setting aside half the sentence on condition he does not commit similar crimes within that period. The helicopter wreckage was forfeited to the State.
Mr Chikwekwe said Lutzkie was a danger to the country, and was disrespectful considering the circumstances in which he committed the crimes.
“He smuggled money into the country and set up businesses without the knowledge of the relevant authorities. A person who smuggles cash and invests in the country nicodemously can also smuggle it out of the country.
“There is nothing that can stop the court from presuming that he could have been smuggling precious stones or even weapons. While he is rich as he claims, he cannot be seen to be ignorant to the laws of this country,” Mr Chikwekwe said.
In aggravation, prosecutor Mr Michael Reza said: “Border jumping by a helicopter might not be prevalent but it is very dangerous. He committed the offence on numerous counts, so clearly we have not heard the whole story in this court.
“He told the court that when he came here for the first time he had come to nurse his worker who had been injured but Your Worship, the accused person is an engineer not a medical doctor. Definitely it’s a cooked up fishy story.
“On his second coming, he said he came into the country to drive away elephants which were posing a threat to villagers in Gwanda. Your Worship all we need is a phone call as we have a vibrant National Parks department in the country that could have done the job. To fly all the way from South Africa just to drive away elephants is unbelievable.
“Up to now we do not know the motive behind his other several visits and it boggles the mind why he came in and out of the country without authority. Clearly he is an author of his misfortunes.”
He said the helicopter wreckage was only discovered after a tip-off because Lutzkie did not inform the police.
After the accident, a small plane illegally landed in Zimbabwe and flew Lutzkie to South Africa.
In mitigation, Lutzkie’s lawyer, Mr Vonani Majoko, pleaded for the court’s leniency arguing that he buried the wreckage fearing that it would explode.
“It had fuel and because of the forced landing, it was likely to explode. While in South Africa he sent an email to the authorities in Zimbabwe informing them of the accident and where he had buried the wreckage. He also showed mercy upon the villagers in Gwanda that is why he used his helicopter to drive away the elephants,” he said.
Lutzkie said he did not fraudulently acquire an exit stamp at Beitbridge Border Post but his passport was stamped after he was made to pay R30 000 by an officer who said it was a fine for violating the Immigration Act.
The immigration officer has since been arrested. From February 1 to 28 this year, Lutzkie flew his helicopter from South Africa to Doddieburn Range in Gwanda, where he runs a game farm.
He was flying without Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe permission.
On May 5, Lutzkie flew from a lodge in Gwanda to South Africa but crashed 4km after take-off. Lutzkie dug a pit with an excavator and buried the wreckage.
Online Reporter