Boy's killing gang-related?

2003-06-17 08:40

Vera Schoeman

Port Elizabeth - New clues have emerged about the killing of four-year-old Keith Alexander last month. His body was dumped in the swimming pool of his parents' home afterwards.

It is believed the family's gang involvement may shed light on the kidnapping.

Keith's grandfather, Michael "Douse" Masuka, was a founding member of the dreaded Invisibles gang in the mid-90s as well as a nightclub owner.

His business interests in liquor stores and nightclubs netted hundreds of thousands of rands in the northern suburbs in early 1995. Because of his involvement in the Invisibles, he was also the target of retaliation by gang members. His life was threatened on numerous occasions.

On January 29, 1995, he was ambushed and wounded critically, in the same house from which Keith jun was kidnapped. Douse was admitted to Livingstone Hospital and died a few days later.

A community leader, who preferred to remain anonymous, explained that Douse had fathered three sons...Shaun, Keith and Timothy - Keith jun's father. The leader said Timothy and the other son, Keith, were never involved in gang activities.

Keith, however, was killed a few months after his father had been murdered.

The third brother, Shaun Alexander, took his father's place in the gang and was apparently involved in a fight with the Fat Cat gang in Schauderville recently.

Timothy said Keith jun and his uncle, Shaun, were inseparable. "He loved his uncle and they spent a lot of time together."

He didn't want to comment on rumours that the attack could have been a form of retaliation.

Following Keith's death, the Alexander family packed up and left their home in Korsten. Only close friends and family know their whereabouts.

The vagrant suspected of kidnapping Keith in front of his parents' home on May 24 is still in custody.

- Die Burger