Yesterday, although it may still be up, the Sowetan ran an opinion poll that posed the following question: “Do you think that people/organisations who received kickbacks in the arms deal should receive amnesty?” The result at the time of writing, with just more than 1 100 votes cast, was 56,87% against and 43,12% in favour. One […]
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
Militant atheism, wicked untruths from the church or the island of Dr Moreau?
In November 2007, in an effort to update the laws on fertility treatment and embryo research, the British government introduced the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill. Key proposals in the Bill are: ensuring that all human embryos outside the body — whatever the process used in their creation — are subject to regulation; regulation of […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Zimbabwe: A bonfire of Mugabe’s vanity
In 2000, Slate magazine’s David Plotz, while describing Zimbabwean tyrant Robert Mugabe, observed: “He does not wreak havoc out of evil, caprice or lunacy. He does it out of cynicism. Mugabe, who liberated his nation from colonial oppression 20 years ago, is the father of his country. He is what would have happened if George […]
Posted inGeneral
Open letter to Mondli Makhanya on metro cops, City Power and Eskom
Dear Sir, I was outraged by your attack on the fine young men and women of the metro cops who have become almost like policemen to us. I mean, how dare you offend the very people who ensure that, after being gridlocked at a robot for three hours due to an Eskom blackout with no […]
Posted inGeneral
Barack Obama echoes Mandela: The rainbow nation address
“Understanding this reality requires a reminder of how we arrived at this point. As William Faulkner once wrote: “The past isn’t dead and buried. In fact, it isn’t even past.” We do not need to recite here the history of racial injustice in this country. But we do need to remind ourselves that so many […]
Posted inGeneral
Is there life after death?
Inayat Bungawala, assistant secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, wrote a column asking Guardian readers the following question: Is death the end? Unsurprisingly, he was flooded with responses from many communities and any number of schools of thought. So I figured that, seeing as your bosses are paying for your time anyway, let’s […]
Posted inSport
Andre Nel and Gert van Schalkwyk: A selection farce
I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. For months now I have been hammering South African selectors who even dared to breathe the word “quota”, yet Andre Nel, a South African who would die for the cause, is being axed due to racism — and if those selectors are misguided, how about the geniuses […]
Posted inGeneral
Designer vaginas: That’s what South Africans are made of
Ask anyone what it is that makes them a Zulu, Afrikaner, white, black or anything else and, chances are, they’ll be able to give you an answer. Ask them what defines us all as South Africans and they’ll probably not be as forthcoming. What are the common denominators that define South Africans? British journalists have […]
Posted inSport
The brothers grim: Enter the Stofiles
On the night of the 27th of December 1944, squadrons of Allied B24 bombers pounded Hamburg into dust — which coincidentaly also happens to be the date that Makhenkesi Arnold Stofile, South Africa’s Minister of Sport and Recreation, was born. Left unchecked he and his brother Mike could well do to rugby and soccer what […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Death penalty at birth? Gay Iranian teenager faces gallows after asylum rejected
Mehdi Kazemi (19) is facing the Iranian gallows after a Dutch court refused to entertain his application for asylum. Kazemi will now have to return to Britain where his application for the same relief was rejected last year. As a result, he will be deported to Iran where his boyfriend was hanged for sodomy two […]
Posted inNews/Politics
No, Mr Kamm, rendition is never justified
British writer Oliver Kamm, in a column that appeared in Monday’s Guardian, would suggest that rendition in certain circumstances, primarily to combat terrorism, is justified. Moreover, according to Kamm: “Rendition does not mean torture. It means moving someone from one country to another without reference to a formal extradition treaty.” In layman’s terms, “rendition” is […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Do South Africans respect a uniform?
When a group captain at the Wittering air base near Peterborough, England, advised Royal Air Force personnel not to wear their uniforms in public, it sparked an enormous outcry. Weren’t these people part of the armed forces responsible for the safety of Britain and, accordingly, entitled to the public’s respect? Closer to home, we could […]