Advocate Peter Serunye, a deputy director of public prosecutions (DDPP) at the Independent Directorate Against Corruption, has told the Madlanga Commission that he believes he and other prosecutors were set up after the then-Idac head, Andrea Johnson, sidelined senior prosecutors in the high-profile prosecution of Crime Intelligence officers.

Serunye testified that Johnson had departed from normal prosecutorial practice by assigning relatively junior prosecutors to one of Idac's most sensitive cases while excluding deputy directors of public prosecutions who would ordinarily have overseen such matters.

"I sort of feel a little angry when I think about it. It feels like I was set up. Not only me but [Adcovate Joy] Hlatywayo as well. As junior as she was, I don't think she was supposed to have been involved in this case. Looking at it now, it appears she was set up," Serunye said.

He said junior prosecutor Drushanta Ramsamy was appointed as lead prosecutor in the case against Brigadier Dineo Mokwele and junior prosecutor Hlatywayo as lead prosecutor in the Idac case against Crime Intelligence chief financial officer Philani Lushaba.

Serunye was testifying about Idac's October 2025 arrest of Crime Intelligence head Dumisani Khumalo and several senior officers on fraud and corruption charges linked to Mokwele’s appointment.

Although the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), under its new head advocate Andy Mothibi, has withdrawn the case, the prosecution has come underscrutiny over Johnson's handling of the investigation.

Johnson has denied allegations that she orchestrated the prosecution to target Khumalo, who led the Political Killings Task Team. However, Idac prosecutor Ramsamy previously told the commission Johnson had orchestrated an attack on Khumalo through an investigation code-named "Project Diversion".

Although he was later appointed to the two cases against Mokwele and Lushaba, Serunye told the commission that he had become aware of the case only after the arrests were made on 26 June 2025.

"I had no prior knowledge of the matter. Out of concern, I enquired which group was responsible for it. No one appeared to know which DDPP was responsible, which I found unusual, since every matter is headed by a DDPP as its project owner," he said.

Serunye said he had been surprised to learn that Hlatywayo, a junior prosecutor who reported to him, had been assigned to the matter without his knowledge. He said senior investigator Brian Padayachee had been appointed to the case but there had been no co-prosecutor.

"It was strange that a junior prosecutor who was reporting to me was allocated to this case without me having been engaged," he said.

He also questioned why advocate Paul Louw, who routinely handled Crime Intelligence matters, had not been involved.

"If things were done according to the manual, advocate Paul Louw ought to have been the project owner, the DDPP in the case. If I remember well, he was also there in the office that morning. He didn't appear to know anything about the case either. That is what was strange," Serunye said.

He said he had been concerned that a case involving the arrest of senior police officials was proceeding without proper prosecutorial oversight.

"I was concerned that a matter of this magnitude, involving the arrest of senior members of the police, was being handled without such support and without a DDPP overseeing it," he said.

Serunye told the commission that he, advocate Jacyntha Witbooi and chief financial investigator Sibusiso Tshikovhi had sought permission to appear in court to assist junior prosecutors, which Johnson had granted.

Serunye said Hlatywayo had appeared overwhelmed during the first court appearance. The J15 charge sheet had not been completed despite there being seven accused and she had struggled to answer the magistrate’s questions.

He said the state had also failed to prepare a bail affidavit or identify witnesses, leaving the magistrate unconvinced that there was a strong case. The accused had been granted bail of R10 000 each.

Serunye said the magistrate had imposed a condition prohibiting the accused from entering Crime Intelligence premises anywhere in the country.

"Neither the state nor the investigating officer had requested that condition and the magistrate gave no reasons for imposing it," he said.

The bail condition has been a subject of a huge controversy implicating the magistrate as well. The magistrate has been subpoenaed by the Madlanga Commission and has therefore recused himself.

Serunye said Johnson had convened a brief meeting on 8 August 2025, when she informed him that he would be appointed DDPP. That had been after KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi's explosive 6 July 2025 media briefing.

Serunye also told the commission that he had initially doubted Mkhwanazi's allegations against Idac.

However, he said the evidence led before the commission over the past two weeks, particularly the testimony of Johnson and Ramsamy, had caused him to reconsider the allegations.