When the opposition parties took to the election trail during 2008 and 2009 one of the focal points of their campaign was the fact that Jacob Zuma, now president, was beholden to the left wing of the ANC, Cosatu and the SACP, among others, for rescuing his political career. In simple terms they believed that […]
Michael Trapido
Mike Trapido is a criminal attorney and publicist having also worked as an editor and journalist.
He was born in Johannesburg and attended HA Jack and Highlands North High Schools.
He married Robyn in 1984 (Mrs Traps, aka "the government") and has three sons (who all look suspiciously like her ex-boss).
He was a counsellor on the JCCI for a year around 1992.
His passions include Derby County, Blue Bulls, Orlando Pirates, Proteas and Springboks.
He takes Valium in order to cope with Bafana Bafana's results.
Practice Michael Trapido Attorney (civil and criminal) 011 022 7332
Posted inNews/Politics
Make witchcraft a criminal offence
An 81-year-old woman in KwaKwiliza near Mtubatuba in KwaZulu-Natal was stabbed 50 times and had her throat slit because her neighbour accused her of being a witch. According to the police he was of the belief that the elderly woman had killed two members of his family members through using witchcraft. Captain Jabulani Mdletshe said […]
Posted inGeneral
Angola were negligent in allowing Togo team bus into Cabinda
Innocent Togo footballers were made to pay a heavy price for Angola’s lack of foresight when their team bus came under attack in Cabinda on Friday. While Manchester City’s Emmanuel Adebayor emerged unharmed, two players were among the nine injured and the driver was killed. The team bus, as it crossed the border from the […]
Posted inGeneral
Archaeological find dates Jewish Bible back hundreds of years
In what may prove to be a groundbreaking discovery, Professor Gershon Galil of the department of biblical studies at the University of Haifa, has managed to decipher an inscription on a pottery shard which dates back to the 10th century BCE. The archaeological find was made in the Elah valley where David famously slew the […]
Posted inGeneral
Male-on-male rape in prisons and police cells
Once again we are waking up to find that a man has been raped while being held in police custody. Worse he was in the holding cells at Graaff-Reinet police station rather than the local prison where it is not as easy to keep prisoners under scrutiny all the time. According to Inspector Mornay Van […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Zuma’s polygamy is fine by me
Reverend Theunis Botha has taken President Jacob Zuma to task for ancestral worship practices which he suggests are a primary cause of Africa’s failure to advance beyond superstition and poverty rather than colonialism. The leader of the Christian Democratic Party described Zuma’s traditional wedding to his fifth wife, Thobeka Madiba, as a “giant step back […]
Posted inGeneral
Executing Akmal Shaikh: Part II
In the vast majority of criminal justice systems across the world, a person who is mentally disabled to a degree that they are incapable of appreciating right from wrong in terms of the law, is deemed to be incapable of committing the crime for which they are charged. Moreover, and even if the above is […]
Posted inGeneral
Executing Akmal Shaikh: Part I
A British man will be executed in China in the early hours of tomorrow morning when a shot is fired into the back of his neck. Akmal Shaikh, who was arrested in the Chinese city of Urumqi for being in possession of 4kg of heroin, was only advised of the “good news” on Tuesday. That […]
Posted inGeneral
Stabbing of Canadian couple will reignite Huntley debate
When white South African Brandon Huntley was granted asylum in Canada after he claimed he was the victim of racist violence, many of us — Richmark Sentinel included — went pear-shaped and labelled the board who had approved it a bunch of morons who never took the time or trouble to investigate the reality of […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Zuma versus Shaik is just not chess
Nic Dawes fabulous article in the Mail & Guardian entitled Schabir’s gambit got me thinking that perhaps many of our readers don’t understand the chess terms being referred to in the discussions regarding President Jacob Zuma and Schabir Shaik. What many of you don’t know is that just hours after paying tribute to former health […]
Posted inGeneral
South Africa must demand an end to Uganda anti-gay Bill
I’ve lived in Africa my whole life and I’m acutely aware of the danger that a person’s sexuality can hold for their personal liberty and sometimes even their lives. This continent has an intolerance that eclipses anything seen in the rest of the world and when it comes to the gay and lesbian community, it […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Cliff: hate speech, not free speech
Mantombazana ‘Manto’ Edmie Tshabalala-Msimang was a South African politician who will, no doubt, be remembered for her controversial policies on HIV-Aids while Minister of Health under President Thabo Mbeki. Unquestionably she drew fire from many quarters with some even calling for her to be held accountable for the deaths that resulted from those policies. She […]