Pretoria - Resident Grayham Plint has pleaded with residents of Mabopane and Soshanguve to help him find his friend who suffers from schizophrenia.
Plint made the appeal yesterday for anyone who had seen or come into contact with his friend, Walter James Seymore, 37, to contact the police or the Missing in SA organisation.
According to Plint, Seymore had been living with him and assisting as his caretaker in Mabopane Block N for the past three months until his disappearance on Friday afternoon.
He said his friend, who at times got confused and dazed, simply walked out from where they stayed in the afternoon and never returned.
The South African Depression and Anxiety Group said schizophrenia was a debilitating mental illness characterised by hallucinations, delusions and confused speech or behaviour.
The group highlighted that schizophrenia was not known to be a violent illness.
“He doesn’t have any form of identification, medication or anything save for the clothes on his back.
It’s been days now and I’m worried if he has even had anything to eat,” Plint said.
“Also, when he is in such a state he tends to walk around without paying attention to his surroundings, so I’m worried he may be knocked down by a car or worse still get pulled into drugs by unsafe groups.”
Plint said as soon as he noticed Seymore’s disappearance, he had gone around the community and eventually ended up in Soshanguve near the Transfer taxi inter-change, where some people said they had seen him.
He said he was informed that his friend had come by the station briefly and requested that police take him to Krugersdorp before moving on. Anyone with information is urged to contact the Soshanguve police.
Pretoria News