Concern is growing for 74-year-old Danie Opperman, who left his home in Poole Street, Florida, on Friday morning, July 17, and has not returned.

Opperman has no immediate family but is a well-known figure in the Florida community.

According to longtime friend Christelle de Wet, Opperman has dementia, although it mainly affects his short-term memory.

“He forgets where he put his keys, like most of us do, and he may be a little more forgetful than most, but there was no indication that his dementia had worsened,” she said.

His landlord, Marthie Naudé, said she attended a funeral on Friday morning.

“When I got home, my grandson told me Danie had said he was just going somewhere quickly.

“I wasn’t worried because Danie regularly goes out to visit friends or to the shops or the bank. But when he had not returned that night, I knew something was wrong because he very rarely stays out past 17:00.

“Today is the fifth day that he has been missing and we are extremely worried about him.”

Naudé opened a missing person case at the Florida Police Station and has visited all of Opperman’s favourite places without success.

“Staff at one of the banks on Goldman Street said they saw him on Saturday morning, but that appears to be the last confirmed sighting of him,” she said.

Anyone with information about Opperman’s whereabouts is urged to contact Naudé on 076 541 5454 or De Wet on 084 842 0727