Cape Town - Family of slain popular cousins Umar Majiet and Tawfeeq Cummings said they were happy the accused had abandoned his bail application.
Leroy Houston was arrested for the killing of the young dads in Hanover Park.
The cousins were murdered as they were driving on Lonedown Walk on September 6.
The accused was on parole at the time of the shooting.
Cummings was driving the car and Majiet was the passenger.
The pair were at the corner of Greenturf and Lonedown roads when they were ambushed by an unknown assailant.
The driver of the silver-grey Nissan Micra lost control and crashed into a fence. The cousins had finished a study of the Qur’an.
Majiet’s aunt Zoda Nordien said: “Umar finished last year, they were both haafiths. Umar lived with his in-laws in Newfields but his parents are in Parow, and Tawfeeq was from Ottery. They were both married.
“Umar had two children with one on the way and Tawfeeq was married with one child.”
She also said the family didn’t know about the shooting until later that evening and when they saw the crime groups on WhatsApp.
Houston was charged with two counts of murder and one count of illegal possession of a firearm.
The State prosecutor revealed that Houston, along with a witness, had received a lift from the cousins and that he first shot Cummings, who was driving, and then Majiet.
The State previously indicated that it would have opposed his release on bail but due to his other parole conditions, a bail application was not applicable. It was confirmed that Houston handed himself over at Pollsmoor prison.
Houston then informed the court that he planned on representing himself, but yesterday he decided to appoint a Legal Aid lawyer.
Last week, at his previous appearance, the accused said he would apply for bail yesterday. The State said it was ready to proceed with the hearing, but then Houston made a U-turn and said through his lawyer that he would abandon the bail application.
Umar’s mother, Zainab Majiet, said: “He needs to stay behind bars because innocent community members are at risk with characters like that on the outside. Irrespective of where he is, whether he’s behind bars or free, justice will prevail, I know.”
The case was postponed to March 1 for further investigation.
The State said the crime scene pictures, statements and post-mortem were still outstanding.