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KT was established in May 1985 during the height of mass mobilisation and popular participation in the struggle against apartheid for the purpose of channeling funds from the European Community's (EC) Special Programme for the Victims of Apartheid.
Kagiso Trust was established in 1986 as a non-profit agency to work with people to achieve a society which would offer liberty, justice and freedom from poverty. During its twelve years of operation the Trust became the largest black-led development agency in South Africa. After becoming operational with an annual budget of R10-m, by the mid 1990's KT was handling funds in the region of R300-m per annum. For many years the EC remained the largest funder while the Governments of Japan, Finland and France, the Rockefeller Foundation and the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) contributed sizeable amounts.
Since 1986 KT has injected over R1 000 000 000 (R1-b) of grant funds into various development projects in the fields of training, health, education, small business development and agriculture across the county.
With the political and economic changes which have occurred in the 1990's, KT has consolidated its substantial experience in the development sector, as well as taken advantage of the new opportunities available for promoting sustainable development and engaging in black economic empowerment ventures in a democratic South Africa.
This new development has changed the structure of the organisation, while concurrently allowing a broader range of integrated business and developmental services to be offered and effectively implemented with greater impact. KT remains the parent body, with a separate development trust, one commercial company and two profit orientated development companies grouped beneath the umbrella - KTE and KTC and several subsidiaries.
More than 10 years in its inception KT continues to be held in high esteem by civil society organisations communities, government and the private sector. KT continues to be the largest, black led and indigienous non-government organisation focussing primarily on rural, peri-urban and informal settlements and on building capabilities of community organisations.