Mrs van der Merwe leaves the country in eight days but her daughter Cyleste Marks has run away with a boyfriend Philip Davis, more than twice her age.
"We do not know where she is. We do not know if she is safe. We know she is with a 34-year-old man I have never met and that she is in a relationship with this man," Ms van der Merwe said.
"Under the circumstances, I just want my daughter back."
Ms van der Merwe, forced to return to her native South Africa because her Australian work visa is being cancelled, is pleading for her daughter's safe return.
Cyleste has been missing for four weeks and if she does not fly home to Johannesburg with her mother, the immigration department has warned she will be an illegal immigrant and face the consequences.
Cyleste began dating a man she called her soul mate after meeting him at a butcher shop in Carlingford, Sydney, where she worked as a casual. On April 24, at 7.10pm, she walked out of the house with just the clothes on her back.
"The phone rang, she went into the basement and disappeared. That was the last time I saw my daughter," Ms van der Merwe said, adding that Mr Davis had sent SMS messages saying he couldn't live without seeing Cyleste.
Attempts to contact the pair have been fruitless: Cyleste has not been on Facebook and has only spoken to her mother briefly to tell her she was "far away".
"My heart was cut down," she said.
Ms van der Merwe said she feared her daughter had been encouraged to stay in Australia despite her visa expiring.
"I need to know where she is. We have booked our flights on the 27th of this month," she said.
"She is going to be listed as an illegal immigrant, she cannot work, she is on the run. I want to know if my daughter is safe.
"She will be deported, they will put her in a holding cell and she'll be questioned. He can be charged for harbouring an illegal. I don't want this for my daughter."
NSW Police cannot help because, legally, 16-year-old Cyleste is old enough to live away from her parents.
"The police know me by name but there is nothing they can do," Ms van der Merwe told The Daily Telegraph.
"The door is always open to my daughter. I am so worried about her."
A Department of Immigration and Citizenship spokesman said it was the obligation of all visa-holders in Australia to abide by the conditions of that visa.
"Any person who overstays becomes an unlawful non-citizen and will become the subject of compliance action of the department," he said.
"We would strongly urge anyone who has knowledge of a person unlawfully having overstayed a visa, or is intending to overstay the visa, to contact the Department of Immigration and Citizenship on 131 881 to discuss their concerns."
The issue of teenagers flee from home with their so-called soul mates happens from time to time. The society always points their fingers at the innocent teenagers without further finding out the true reasons behind the issue after all. It also reflects the lack of societal concern towards this issue when it is being considered as a common issue that does not matter much. Therefore, besides family, who plays a major role in coping with this issue, the society and the government also should show their obligation by carrying out effective measures and necessary cares towards teenagers.
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