SABC News reports that the murder and attempted murder trial of eight Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) leaders was scheduled to be heard in the Pretoria High Court on Monday.  

The men face charges of murder, attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder and the possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition.  The accused are alleged to have shot and wounded the union’s newly elected chairperson at a Marikana branch, Malibongwe Mdazo, in 2017.  Mdazo was accosted while leaving a soccer stadium in Mooinooi, near Rustenburg and was shot multiple times.  Later in the day, Mveliso Biyela, who had been walking home with his wife and son in Wonderkop near Marikana, was also shot multiple times and died on the scene.  It is the state’s allegation that the same weapon used to kill Biyela was used to shoot Mdazo.  The accused were allegedly frustrated because concerns that they wanted to raise with the union were not being addressed to their satisfaction.

• Read the original of the above report at SABC News

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