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Johannesburg - The woman who helped save Springbok legend Frik du Preez’s life after he suffered a heart attack is in the spotlight again - but this time for the wrong reasons.
Tshwane city manager, Moeketsi Masola, on Monday confirmed to Netwerk24 that he had received a forensic report on the alleged falsified qualifications of Trish Armstrong, a member of the metro police.
Masola said he was studying the report and had brought the matter to the attention of the Tshwane metro police. He will decide on the way forward as soon as he’s finished studying the report.
The report was compiled in 2014 after an investigation by the city’s Group Audit and Risk Department.
The mayoral committee member for community safety, Derrick Kissundooth, said the report was sent to Masola after queries arose regarding whether the recommendations had been put into effect or not.
In the report it is recommended that legal steps be taken against Armstrong.
She had applied for a director’s position at the Tshwane metro police. However, the position required that she be a metro police officer, a police officer or a traffic officer. The report found that she had used a fake metro police diploma to register as a traffic officer with the Department of Transport.
Armstrong was suspended in 2015 and later dismissed by the Tshwane metro police, but appealed the decision. The Labour Court ruled in her favour and she was reinstated on May 1, 2016 as director of tactical operations.
Before her dismissal, she was director of research and resources development at the Tshwane metro police.
Armstrong and Ina Strijdom, a DA ward councillor, helped resuscitate Du Preez earlier this month after he had collapsed at Leriba Lodge in Centurion.
Armstrong, who had completed a first aid course when she was younger, performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation when she saw Du Preez lying outside Leriba Lodge. She also asked Strijdom to call for an ambulance.
Masola called on the media to allow him “a reasonable amount of time to give the report careful consideration before taking the necessary steps”.
Armstrong could not be reached for comment.
