In 1952 Ivy Kros saw a need to help the visually impaired people.  She started off with knitting classes for 3 visually impaired people; Martha October, Violet Lepuco and Michael Hoeff. As the need grew, more space was needed to accommodate more visually impaired people. De Beers offered to accommodate all people with disabilities at the geology department. After some time, they decided to go on their own and in 1998 public works gave the previous Transvaal Road Primary School for a rent of R1 for use for the purpose of having a sheltered workshop for the visually impaired community. The new center opened for business in 1998.