He prowls the empty streets at night — waiting — in fast cars and on foot, he are the men of Hawk … or at least until they give him some little friends to play with. Don’t let me catch any of you lot sniggering. Do you think it’s easy watching the phones, making tea […]
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
Swine flu: Can I panic yet?
Way back in April I did an article on the flu pandemic which broke out in 1918 and then went on to decimate this planet in numbers that not even World War II could match. My point at the time being that I found it strange that every pupil learns about World War I in […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Zuma’s wall lower than Mbeki’s so crime must be down
Seems to me that most of you lot have forgotten former president Mbeki’s 90-foot security wall which had everyone at the time going spare on account of the government’s repeated denials that crime was out of control. This time around crime levels must definitely have dropped because President Jacob Zuma has hardly bothered with security: […]
Posted inGeneral
If Malema thinks we’re Mickey Mouse, he must be Goofy
African National Congress Youth League president Julius Malema believes that people outraged by his remarks regarding President Zuma’s rape accuser are Mickey Mouses and that they have been put up to charging him by whites who wish to ridicule the ANC. This is so wrong on so many levels it’s hard to decide where to […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Malema should have apologised for ‘rape comments’
Whether or not African National Congress Youth League President Julius Malema believed that the comments which he made at the Cape Peninsular Technikon concerning the complainant in the Zuma rape case were justified or not, there is an issue which transcends who was legally right or wrong. The fact of the matter is that South […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Cope in desperate need of a leader
Many of you have probably read some of the stories regarding the resignations of Lynda Odendaal and Simon Grindrod of Cope. My response was simply this: Lynda who? Simon who? With the utmost respect to Cope and their leadership — including Dandala, Lekota and Shilowa — there is not one individual among them who stands […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Not the Michael Jackson farewell
While Mrs Traps and a billion people around the world watched the Michael Jackson Memorial Service, I was giving consideration to the events taking place around the world which the media, in their wisdom, had decided to put on the backburner. Undoubtedly Jackson was an immense talent worthy of extensive coverage but surely not to […]
Posted inNews/Politics
It’s the Johnnie Carson Show, featuring Bob Mugabe
Whenever things get a bit dull and dreary in sub-Saharan Africa don’t despair because everyone’s favourite Uncle Bob is just five minutes away from another classic encounter. This one, for me, was by far his funniest because I had seen the build-up in the early hours of the morning. Let’s start at the beginning. As […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Zuma needs to call time on ‘nationalisation’ talk
When African National Congress Youth League President Julius Malema first raised the issue of nationalising the mines at the opening of the ANCYL political school in Krugersdorp, very few people took the matter seriously. On the one hand ANC General Secretary Gwede Mantashe moved quickly to clarify the position ie that it was not part […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Mantashe clarification of Malema on mines rejected by ANCYL
One of the major problems politicians experience in living in a global village, during the information age, is that everything they say or do is quickly recorded, translated and then spewed out to a waiting world. The planet in its turn then analyses that information or data and assesses its impact on individual countries, their […]
Posted inGeneral
Malema Political School will offer woodwork
African National Congress Youth League President Julius Malema has confirmed that in order to avoid becoming another Zanu-PF, his organisation had decided to open a political school in Krugersdorp (which they officially launched yesterday). I haven’t seen it but I’m sure it’s to die for. Malema says they are of the view that the school […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Dirk Prinsloo, the boy from Belarus
Chances are that by the time you read this I will be arguing, what is hopefully, my final matter as a criminal attorney in the Regional Court of Witbank. It is a culpable homicide involving the death of a young man which was occasioned by a car crash that took place about three years ago. […]