Torie Pretorius - the man who played a key role in the decision to charge Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan with fraud - has bagged some of the biggest game in South African prosecutorial history. His scalps or targets included apartheid death squad commander Eugene de Kock, hit man Ferdi Barnard and chemical warfare expert Wouter Basson.His tenure at the priority crimes litigation unit, which he now heads in an acting capacity, has seen him take on coup plotters, mercenaries, missile traffickers, terror plotters and rogue spies.Colleagues in the National Prosecuting Authority, police and intelligence services described him this week as "seasoned", "old school" and "incorruptible" with "a very good career that's never been tainted".story_article_left1Then came the bombshell: on October 11 NPA head Shaun Abrahams announced the decision to prosecute Gordhan.The fraud case against him is widely regarded as flimsy.This week Pretorius brushed aside criticism of the decision to charge Gordhan, and its timing."If the docket is ready I can't say 'hold back because we're facing junk status'," he said."I'm not ashamed of what I've done. I've been a prosecutor for a long time."I've based my decision on facts that must be tested in a court of law."He bristles at accusations by former colleagues that he has become part of "Zuma's legal hit squad" and has "climbed the slippery pole and doesn't want to jeopardise his pension"."These are slanderous accusations. Our own prosecutors who haven't had sight of the evidence go peddle these lies."Some of Pretorius's colleagues say they are baffled by his decision to go after Gordhan on a flimsy charge that does not fall under his unit's mandate. They have also questioned why he would prioritise this case when President Jacob Zuma faces 783 charges of corruption."It's such a piss-willy charge," said one. "He's a brilliant prosecutor. Now I'm not so sure. I think Torie is inherently an honest person. But he's a pleaser. He can't say no to anyone."But Pretorius said he did not decide which cases landed on his desk.Towards the end of last year Abrahams "formally referred" several "sensitive matters" to his unit, including investigations into the South African Revenue Service's "rogue unit", and EFF leader Julius Malema.mini_story_image_hright1The Gordhan case was "part and parcel of the so-called rogue unit investigation" launched after SARS commissioner Tom Moyane laid a charge "related to Project Sunday Evenings where the NPA was allegedly spied on", he said.Some colleagues have accused him of being at the heart of a secretive deal-making process in which it is decided which cases go forward and which should be "contained" for political reasons."I've personally always felt he's a profoundly slippery character," said one.A senior Hawks official described the decision to prosecute Gordhan on fraud charges as a "strategic error"."They aren't dealing with a kortbroek (rookie) here. They should have finalised all the rogue unit investigations and brought all the charges at once."Pretorius is unrepentant. "I can't base decisions on vague feelings of things being afoot in South Africa."All I can do is take a decision based on the facts before me."..