Cross worked held a number of positions at various projects during her career as a social worker. She actively worked African Children's Feeding Scheme. On 16 June 1976, Cross was working in Soweto for the Johannesburg City Council, which ran the Orlando sheltered employment workshop. She became trapped by the start of the Soweto uprising against the Apartheid-era South African government. She described her escape from the Soweto riots as a "terrifying experience."