Marisa Smit

Marisa Smit was diagnosed as deaf at the age of 14-months, but her mother was determined that this would never affect her daughter’s ability to realise her dreams. Marisa’s mother resigned from her job as a music teacher, and began learning South African Sign Language, and everything she could about audiology, so that she could help her daughter succeed.

By the age of 4-years, Marisa had her first hearing aid, and had started dancing lessons, which allowed her to express her emotions through movement. At the age of 17, Marisa received a cochlear implant, and soon after, was selected to train at the Joffrey Ballet School in New York, one of the top dance schools in the world.

Watch as Marisa and her mother revisit the memories of their extraordinary journey, which is far from over.

South African Sign Language Lessons

Are you or partner a terrible cook? Is every mealtime like an episode of Kitchen Nightmares?

In this week’s South African Sign Language lesson, Karabo presents a wonderful solution to a young man whose wife is not quite at home in the kitchen.

SARS

Income Tax is not the only tax payable to SARS, but it is the one that most people know about.

DTV got some SARS executives to answer your burning questions relating to tax in South Africa.

Rosebank Sunday Market

The Rosebank Sunday Market has, for many years, been a wonderful way for locals and tourists to be exposed to the diverse culture, craft and food of South Africa. But behind-the-scenes changes meant it almost disappeared completely.

DTV spent a day exploring all the market has to offer, and finding out why it almost disappeared, and how it was saved.

Deaf Social Club

The Deaf social club in Johannesburg has been around for a few years, but they recently learned that they will have to find a new venue. Troy Panaino attended the last get-together in the old venue, when the club had two special guests visiting from the UK.

Aimèe Cockle and Kathrene Borland entertained everyone with their own unique brand of comedy, ensuring that the audience had some great memories of the social club to hold them over until the club finds a new home.

South African Sign Language Lessons

Our teenage years are difficult ones, and in this week’s South African Sign Language lesson Karabo advises a young woman whose teenage brother is allowing his laziness to affect his personal hygiene.

SARS

Do you know whether you have to pay income tax? Do you know why you pay income tax?

DTV got some SARS executive’s to answer your burning questions relating to tax in South Africa.

Ultimate Frisbee

You’re probably familiar with frisbee’s, little plastic discs that can be thrown through the air. Initially introduced just before World War II as a recreational item, this simple ‘toy’ has proved to be incredibly versatile, eventually making its way into a form of dog sport, and more recently, the highly competitive Ultimate Frisbee.

Ultimate Frisbee is a non-contact sport involving two teams of 5-7 players playing on 100m fields, and the DTV team attended a recent tournament in Pretoria. Watch this week’s episode of DTV to see just how Ultimate Frisbee differs from the simple game you sometimes play on the beach.