Pretoria - The North Gauteng High Court, Pretoria on Monday withdrew charges against six of the eight former leaders of the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) accused of plotting hits against miners and trade union leaders.
State Prosecutor Annalie Coetzer told the court there was not enough evidence to pursue charges against the men.
However, Samkelo Mkutshwa, 38, Simphiwe Silwane, 36 - both of Lusikisike in the Eastern Cape - will continue to stand trial.
The men are believed to be some of the kingpins behind the spate of attacks in Marikana in 2017. In one of the attacks, the chairperson of the Marikana branch of AMCU was nearly killed. Malibongwe Mdazo was shot 16 times but survived the attack.
They are facing six charges, including murder, attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder.
Amcu members, clad in green T-shirts, filled the courtroom in anticipation of hearing “the truth” about what happened to their colleagues.
The matter was postponed to Tuesday.