Convicted former Rustenburg mayor Matthew Wolmarans has launched a bid to clear his name and cut short his 20 year jail term, The Star newspaper reported on Friday.

A full bench of the Mafikeng High Court was expected to hear new evidence by lawyers representing Wolmarans and his former mayoral bodyguard Enoch Matshaba on Friday.

The pair wanted to be cleared of charges relating to the death of African National Congress councillor Moss Phakoe.

The lawyers were expected to present new evidence.

Matshaba was sentenced to life imprisonment last year after the court found he had pulled the trigger and killed Phakoe in the driveway of his Rustenburg North house on March 14, 2009.

Wolmarans, then an ANC North West provincial executive committee member, was sentenced for masterminding the hit.

The two men were granted leave to appeal against their convictions and were released on R100,000 bail each last month pending appeal.