The principal of Sandringham High School in Johannesburg has gone missing, the Gauteng education department said on Thursday.

“According to information at our disposal since the schools reopened on Tuesday, 17 July 2018, the said principal has not yet reported for work and he is not at home either, and as such, it is suspected that he is missing,” the department said in a statement.

A poster added to the South African Teachers Facebook group said that Phillip du Plessis, 55, was last seen in a grey tracksuit at Carnival shopping centre on July 4.

Boksburg North police spokesperson Captain Juanita Coetzer confirmed that a missing persons case was opened on Wednesday morning.

“We are following up on all the leads. The investigating officer followed up on information yesterday (Wednesday) morning, but we still haven’t found him,” she said.

Coetzer said the family was not able to tell police when exactly he went missing.

Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi visited the school on Thursday. Neither he nor his spokesperson were immediately available for further comment.