Jailed South African crash pilot granted bail

South African millionaire Fredrick Wilhelm August Lutzkie who crashed a helicopter in Gwanda and concealed it was today granted $2 000 bail by a Harare magistrate.

Last week, Lutzkie was slapped with a seven-year jail term for violating the country's airspace and tampering with the nation's security systems.

The sentence was however reduced to an effective three-and-a-half-year jail term after Harare provincial magistrate Vakai Douglas Chikwekwe suspended half of the sentence on condition of good behaviour.

In today's successful bail application the South African businessman was also required to deposit $25 000 to the registrar of courts as surety.

He was ordered to surrender his passport to the Criminal Investigations department (CID).

The magistrate said if Lutzkie wants to leave the country, he would have to seek permission from the CID.