Johannesburg – A month after AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit approached the police to execute an arrest warrant for a man accused of stabbing his partner multiple times with a screwdriver, the suspect remains at large.
Pointing out the anomaly on Tuesday, 9 December 2025, the unit, which represents the complainant, Helena Fairlie, said the accused, Gregory Kleynhans, has been on the run for more than a year, “with the police showing no interest in locating and arresting him”.
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Recalling events that led to the stabbing, the unit stated that on 6 December 2022, Kleynhans allegedly accosted Fairlie outside her guesthouse in Centurion as she was leaving for work.
Kleynhans allegedly dragged Fairlie by her hair, attempted to force her into his car, slammed the door against her, and stabbed her multiple times with a screwdriver.
When neighbours heard Fairlie’s desperate screams for help, Kleynhans dropped the screwdriver and fled the scene.
Fairlie was treated for stab wounds to her thighs and chest.
The unit said police were believed to have arrested Kleynhans, but he was released the next day.
“The police have not informed Fairlie of the circumstances surrounding his release or whether he was subject to any conditions of release,” the unit said in a statement made available to The Bulrushes.
The unit said the trial was scheduled to begin on October 28, 2024, but the accused, Kleynhans, absconded.
“The unit wrote to the commander of the Wierdabrug Police Station on 29 October and again on 27 November 2025, but no response has been received,” the statement said.
Barry Bateman, the Unit’s spokesperson, referenced President Cyril Ramaphosa’s “letter to the nation” declaring GBV a national disaster.
The President explained that the move will allow the government to improve funding and access to justice, and help law enforcement agencies and the judiciary speed up GBV-related cases.
President Ramaphosa also referred to the progress in the “operationalisation” of GBV-related laws.
However, Bateman stated that President Ramaphosa, who holds a law degree from the University of South Africa obtained in 1981, “demonstrates a fundamental misunderstanding of the problem, and how the collapse of the criminal justice system is contributing to it”.
Bateman added: “Investigating cases, compiling dockets, arresting suspects, and ensuring their prosecution are not specialised tasks; they simply require the police to perform some of their core duties.
“A GBV case cannot be sped up, and victims can’t access justice, if the investigating officer cannot bother to speak to the victim and locate the suspect.
“No amount of laws will contribute to combating GBV if the police do not enforce them and use them to ensure accountability.
“It is embarrassing that a known suspect whose possible location has been provided to the police has evaded them for more than a year.
“It is unconscionable that the police have accepted this state of affairs, while the President appears to believe that declaring this scourge a national disaster will have any effect.”
Bateman said the unit will escalate its engagement to ensure the police take this case seriously.
