Peter Heinrich qualified from the Witwatersrand Technicon in 1971, the first group to graduate from the newly extended 4 year course there (at the time there was no other optometry course available anywhere in SA – the Technicon course was later transferred and amalgamated with the School of Optometry at Rand Afrikaans University, which became known later as the University of Johannesburg). He has worked in Sasolburg, in Germiston, Benoni and Hillbrow, lecturing part-time at the College up to the time when he founded the first Optometric practice South of Pretoria in Lyttelton, in September 1973. Now, 40 years later, Peter Heinrich and his partner Lesley Vink (who joined the practice in 1991, two years after Leonard Mann left for Canada) ascribe to the same highly professional, ethical and friendly standards of service that were the cornerstone of those early years. The practice has striven to be at the cutting edge of optometry in services offered and the technology behind those services; through further studies by the professionals (done both overseas and locally); therapeutic excellence and the constant updating of equipment. Services offered range from specialised testing, spectacle fitting; fitting of both rigid gas permeable, soft permanent or disposable contact lenses; natural vision rehabilitation; syntonic phototherapy (light therapy); sports vision; iridology and low vision aids. Every member of our front staff has attended and passed the Optometric Assistant’s Course run by the South African Optometric Association, and are highly efficient and motivated through on-going staff training, regular meetings and positive encouragement to deliver the same standards of service to our patients. We have our own in-house spectacle fitting workshop and the optical technician – Johann von Ruben - a Teutonic perfectionist and previously a manager at Zeiss Optics in Windhoek has been with us for over 30 years – he is unapologetic and unbending on the highest quality and finish of the spectacles he delivers.
