The family of slain cousins Umar Majiet and Tawfeeq Cummings say they are happy accused Leroy Houston has abandoned bail on Tuesday.
Houston was arrested for the killing of the young dads in Hanover Park.
The cousins were shot dead as they were driving on Lonedown Walk on September 6.
The accused was on parole at the time of the shooting.
The pair were at the corner of Greenturf and Lonedown roads when they were attacked. They lost control of their silver-grey Nissan Micra and crashed into a fence.
The cousins had both memorised the Qur’an.
Umar’s aunt Zoda Nordien says: “Umar finished last year, they were both haafith. Umar lived with his in-laws in Newfields but his parents are in Parow, and Tauwfeeq was from Ottery. They were both married. Umar had two children with one on the way and Tauwfeeq was married with one child.”
Houston was charged with two counts of murder and one count of illegal possession of a firearm.
At the Athlone Magistrate’s Court, the State prosecutor had revealed that Houston, along with an eyewitness, had received a lift from the cousins and that he first shot Tawfeeq, who was driving, and then Umar.
The State had indicated it would have opposed his release on bail, but it was then revealed that due to his parole conditions, a bail application was not applicable.
It was also revealed that Houston had handed himself over at Pollsmoor Prison following the murders of the cousins. Yesterday he decided to appoint a Legal Aid lawyer.
The State had said they were ready to proceed with the hearing but then Houston made a U-turn and said through his lawyer he would abandon the bail application.
Umar’s mother Zainab Majiet said outside court: “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.