A 36-year-old man has admitted to killing his father and burying him in their backyard in Houghton, Gauteng police said on Friday.
The man admitted to the killing on Thursday evening while at Norwood police station, before being released under supervision, Captain Phillip Maganedisa said.
It is not known how the 78-year-old father, a dentist, had been killed.
He had been missing for around five months, but this was only reported to the police by his brother-in-law on Wednesday.
Police took the son of the missing man into custody and gathered information that led them to believe the man was buried at the house the two shared in Johannesburg. Police want the man to show them the spot where his father is buried.
The son was released without being charged, as police want to find the body first, as evidence. Once a body has been found, police said a charge of murder would be laid.