News24 reports that the murder and attempted murder trial of eight former Association of Mineworker and Construction Union (Amcu) leaders has been transferred to the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria.  

The men face charges of murder, attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder and the possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition.  When the accused appeared in the Brits Magistrate's Court on Tuesday, the magistrate withdrew charges against Nkosinathi Mantashe, Sithembe Mtakane, Lungisa Madiba, Duke Mjakuca and Peterson Siyaya due to a lack of evidence against them.  The magistrate warned the remaining accused to prepare themselves before appearing in the High Court next year.  Seven of the accused are out on bail.  The trial is expected to run from 13 to 31 May 2019.  It is alleged that the accused shot and wounded the union's newly elected chairperson at a Marikana branch, Malibongwe Mdazo, on 22 July 2017.  Mdazo was accosted while leaving a soccer stadium in Mooinooi, near Rustenburg, and was shot multiple times.  Later in the day, Mveliso Biyela, another union leader, was shot multiple times and killed in Wonderkop near Marikana.  The state alleges that the same weapon used to kill Biyela was used to shoot Mdazo.

• Read this report by Ntwaagae Seleka in full at News24

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