Perseverance was key for 31-year-old Marisa Smit of Gardens, who was crowned Miss Deaf SA at a glittering ceremony at the weekend, after entering three times before and just coming up short.
The Miss, Mrs and Mr Deaf South Africa (MDSA) winners were crowned at the Lyric Theatre in Gold Reef City, Johannesburg.
Winners walked away with prizes worth more than R20 000.
Born deaf, Smit described her victory as an emotional roller coaster.
“I got so emotional after they announced my name.
"I entered four times and won thrice as the first princess.
“I never gave up and it was a dream come true,” Smit said.
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A post shared by MARISA SMIT(@marisamsmit) on Sep 2, 2019 at 5:12am PDT
“I chose to participate in Miss Deaf South Africa to become an ambassador for the South African deaf community.
“I want to give a message to deaf people to never give up on their dreams and to be unstoppable.”
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A post shared by MARISA SMIT(@marisamsmit) on Sep 1, 2019 at 8:23am PDT
Apart from modelling, Smit is a teacher and pilates instructor at her studio in Cape Town, where she teaches deaf people about maintaining good health.
Smit is also currently working on a children's fairytale book which she hopes will raise funds for cochlear implants for the deaf community.
Mrs Deaf SA, Judith Madi from Ekurhuleni, said: “I’m grateful for my friends, sisters and fiancé for their moral support.
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/hashtag/msdeafsa?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#msdeafsa #SilentWalk&Run @cojhealth @SaferSA_ pic.twitter.com/FFDLY43bzU
— Solomon Makgale (@_Solim)
‘‘Now that I’ve won the title I would like to partner with social development to empower young girls and host women programmes.”
Mr Deaf South Africa, Tholang Setona of Sterkspruit, Eastern Cape, said he was confident throughout the pageant.
“I was shocked but also felt proud when I heard my name was announced.
‘‘It is only because of my positive attitude that I was awarded this victory,” Setona said.
MDSA is a non-profit organisation aimed at empowering the deaf community through leadership development, personal development and skills development programmes, and serves to amplify the voice of the deaf by hosting annual MDSA pageants.
Cape Times