- Matatiele principal Jaco Pieterse fled home after social media mob demanded his DNA in rape case that collapsed due to no evidence
- Million-signature petition and viral TikTok video destroyed innocent man's life while NPA found no DNA evidence or sign of rape occurred
Jaco Pieterse says his life has been ripped apart - not by the justice system, but by social media.
The respected principal of Bergview College in Matatiele was dragged into a storm last year when a seven-year-old girl's mother claimed her child was raped.
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The case fell apart when the National Prosecuting Authority found no DNA evidence and no sign of rape. But by then, the damage was done.
"My dignity, status and integrity have been destroyed," said Pieterse, who hasn't been able to return to work for three months. "I stand completely innocent here. Nothing I've done can justify what has happened to me and my family."
Pieterse and his wife Annelie had to flee Matatiele. They left their home, their guesthouse business and their pets behind, fearing for their lives after protesters threatened to burn their property, City Press reported.
"We packed for a weekend and stayed away for three months," said Annelie.
A petition demanding Pieterse's DNA reached over a million signatures in days. A viral TikTok video about it was seen more than five million times. People even protested in London and New Zealand.
"I was never even on the child's campus that day," Pieterse said. "But social media made me a target. When I refused to give my DNA without a legal reason, they called me guilty."
Police told him there was no DNA on the victim to compare anything with.
"Then why did they ask? Because the mother insisted. But that's not how justice works," he said.
He described the moment when children at school saw him and waved, and a teacher cried seeing him again.
"It's my life to help people grow. Now it feels like everything I stood for has collapsed."
Annelie said she couldn't sleep for weeks.
"We were threatened with witchcraft, mass rape, necklacing. I had to tell our son he couldn't cycle to the gym anymore. He watched his friends go by while he stayed indoors."
"I believed in justice," Pieterse said. "But when the law does nothing, what do you believe in then?"
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The attacks hurt even more when people who knew him joined the online mob.
"A former student I was so proud of accused me of covering up a rape. That broke me," he said.
Still, there were glimmers of hope. Pieterse received a letter from a young man he once taught. The man had fallen into addiction but turned his life around after remembering Pieterse's encouragement.
"Those are the moments that remind me I did make a difference," he said, eyes filled with tears.
