The Jane Argall Collection comprises documents that reflect the research work that Argall had done for the KwaZulu-Natal/Free State regional office of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) in her capacity as a researcher in the Research Department of the Durban TRC regional office.

Argall produced, but also co-authored the documents that make up the collection.

The office operated across the provinces of KwaZulu-Natal and the Free State, whereby KwaZulu-Natal was treated as two separate regional entries.

The records accumulations can be divided into three parts. The three areas are the Free State region, the KwaZulu and Natal regions and miscellaneous research documents.

Foci of the research of KwaZulu-Natal include the widespread political violence in that Province. The research interrogated the collaboration between two police forces, namely the South African Police and the KwaZulu Police with the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP).

Historical overviews of clashing political activity and the ensuing state and parastatal repression (chiefly through the agency of the IFP) in the region are provided as well as analyses of civil conflict resulting from the release of former President Nelson Mandela and the unbanning of the African National Congress (ANC) - the so-called 'Seven Day War'.

In the case of the Free State region enquiry into violations of human rights focused on the fact that the Apartheid state had established two 'homelands' in that region resulting in resistance to Apartheid being directed at 'homeland' authorities and institutions.

Another point of focus was the phenomenon that the Free State was the closest neighbour to the sovereign state of Lesotho, a fact which facilitated South Africans entering Lesotho to join the ANC and/or its military wing Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) there.

This in turn led to the cross-border political persecution of refugees and exiles living in Lesotho by the Apartheid security establishment.

An important point of investigation into human rights abuses in the Free State was located in a special hearing on the plight of children resulting from the political activities and harassment, such as torture and deaths in custody, of their parents. Revolutionary and counter-revolutionary violence were also investigated.

A third accumulation of documents deals with discrete research issues such as state-orchestrated violence, the integration of Amnesty and HRV data and the Self-Defence Units (SDUs).

The research conducted by Argall was additionally used in the chapter of the Final Report dealing with the Findings and Conclusion of the Commission.