Armed South African hunter drives through State House

A 30 year old South African national Adriaan Philip Olivier was arrested over the weekend after he drove his vehicle through the barricades at State House along Borrowdale Road at around 3am.

When he was arrested, Olivier was in possession of nine live rounds of ammunition. He is a professional hunter.

Olivier was on Tuesday fined $150 for trespassing.

The road is only open to motorists between 6am and 6pm every day for security reasons.

He pleaded for the court's leniency, arguing that he was not familiar with the rules and regulations of that area.

In passing sentence, magistrate Mr Lazini Ncube took note that Olivier was a first offender who pleaded guilty and did not waste the court's time.

"First offenders need to be treated with lenience. He also has a sick child that he needs to take care of."

Mr Ncube said the fact that Olivier was not familiar with the area, was not an excuse.

"In mitigation he said that he is not familiar with the capital city but that is not an excuse for not observing road signs and police directions," he said

Mr Ncube then ordered Olivier to pay a $150 fine or risk going to prison for two months.

Olivier was represented by Mr Innocent Chingarande.