SPENCE Alexander dedicated his life and his surgery skills to helping those most in need. He was rewarded by an act of callous savagery.

When news of his killing became public, the whole of Empangeni went into mourning.

Close friend and colleague Frans Roodt, said: ''Spence was a committed Christian and did so much for the community. He was fluent in Zulu (the local language) and spoke good Afrikaans.

''We didn't think of him as a foreigner. He was part of South Africa. Our future was his future.''

He added: ''This is my country and I've always said that no matter what happens, I'll stay. But after this, I've been looking for a job in another country.''

Dr Alexander's father, the Rev James Alexander, a retired United Free Church minister, and his wife Ann, learned of the tragedy when two of their sons traced them to their caravan near Peebles.

Before flying out to bury his eldest son and be with daughter-in-law Jean and grandchildren Matthew, 14, Peter, 12, and nine-year-old Hannah, he said the family had been ''shattered''.

As he travelled to South Africa with sons Murdo, 37, Ian, 35, and 30-year-old Alan, detectives arrested five suspects following a tip-off.

Mrs Ann Alexander, 67, said: ''Our son was so well known and so well liked by everybody that we were sure that the perpetrators of this dastardly deed would be picked up quickly.''

Her husband added: ''Spence's ambition was always to be a Christian missionary, but that didn't quite open up for him. So he went to South Africa to serve in the medical profession. He was a very open person. He never changed. He still looked like a teenager.''

Mr Alexander said yesterday it was a comfort to think evil men had been found guilty of his son's murder, but added: ''It's not going to bring Spence back.''

Brother Ian Alexander said: ''There was anger when we heard the news at first, but no bitterness. I feel sorry for the people who did this, who took Spence away from us.''

Mr Alexander insisted the family only wanted justice, not vengeance: ''Vengeance is a futile thing - it only eats you up.''

A family friend in South Africa, Mrs Rose Cyrus, said: ''Spence was such a special and very caring man. It didn't matter who you were, what colour you were, what your circumstances were. The community is devastated that there should be so little regard for someone who had such high regard for everyone else.''

A former pupil of Hutcheson's Grammar School in Glasgow, Dr Alexander worked at the University Hospital in Cardiff, and was appointed Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in Edinburgh, before moving to South Africa in 1990.

He stopped there on route to work in a mission hospital in Kenya, and decided to stay. At first, he worked as a surgical consultant at Ngwelezana State Hospital, the largest referral hospital in Zululand, situated in a township on the outskirts of Empangeni.

He specialised in paediatric surgery, having already worked as a paediatric senior registrar at Cardiff, and quickly established a reputation for excellence.

His wife Jean, a qualified GP whom he met when they were medical students at Aberdeen University, also worked part-time in paediatrics at Ngwelezana, and trained the hospital's primary health care nurses.

Although his skills and dedication as a surgeon were widely recognised, it was Dr Alexander's caring attitude and ready wit which left a lasting impression.

One close friend said: ''Nothing was ever too much for him and he gave his friendship easily, freely and unconditionally.''

At the end of 1994, Dr Alexander went into private practice in Empangeni, but maintained a part-time consultancy at Ngwelezana.

As a lay preacher, he attended the Methodist church in Empangeni, but also travelled to deliver sermons to surrounding communities.

A talented musician, Dr Alexander played guitar and sang in church, also helping to organise the annual Zululand faith celebrations, a musical event embracing churches from all denominations.

Describing his murder as tragic, local mayor Denny Moffatt said: ''He was a well loved member of the community.''

The doctor was only 38 when he was murdered on July 31 last year. His wife was working 75 miles away. The family had been planning to apply for South African citizenship.

Residents of Empangeni, Richards Bay and outlying areas reacted with shock and outrage. Friends posted an international petition to President Nelson Mandela urging him to clamp down on a wave of post-apartheid lawlessness.

It read: ''Dr Alexander came to South Africa to help save lives. It's time that the world and the South African government do something other than talk and do something constructive to clamp down on crime in this country.''

Colleague Dr Corrie van Rensburg said doctors worked daily in fear of violent attack in the region and wanted to turn the international spotlight on their friend's murder in the hope of rooting out the cause of the ''major disease crippling our country''.

A memorial service was held on August 4, in the nursing hall at Ngwelezana Hospital, as the manhunt for the killers entered its fourth day.

Two days later, more than 1000 mourners, including Dr Ben Ngubane, the premier of KwaZulu-Natal, filled the Dutch Reformed Church, the biggest church in Empangeni, for Dr Alexander's funeral.

The streets of Empangeni were filled by 6000 people to protest at Dr Alexander's murder in a Heal Our Nation march. People from all walks of life converged on the town and planted hundreds of crosses in remembrance of friends and family.

Soon after the suspects were arrested, Mrs Jean Alexander moved back to Inverness, to live near her parents.

Her father-in-law said: ''She is just trying to pick up the pieces and make life as normal as it can be.''

In a tribute, a former patient said: ''Dr Alexander saved my life. He did not deserve to be murdered, but should have been uplifted with praise for all the lives he had saved.''