The collection mainly contains documents and publications relating to the education for the youth, evening schools and continuation classes, religion, justice and peace, human rights, racial issues and Jewish organizations.

McCaul was an extraordinary note-taker and filer of documents, and left a remarkably complete archive of the documents generated through her many projects. This includes reports, draft reports, presentations, meeting minutes, and correspondence. In many instances the documents are accompanied by her thorough personal notes. Altogether, this provides an unparalleled insight into the planning and implementation of Rea Vaya, and the many smaller projects she worked on including early bus reform projects for the City of Johannesburg and the Gauteng Provincial Government, reforms to national transport legislation, development of national BRT policy, other planned BRTs including those in Tshwane, Nelson Mandela Bay, and Ekurhuleni, and almost every pre-Rea Vaya transport policy of the City of Johannesburg. There is no more than a handful of people who were involved in so many aspects of Johannesburg’s post-apartheid transport system, and likely none who documented their work as thoroughly. This collection will be invaluable to scholars of Johannesburg, local government, bureaucracy, BRT, and urban transport policy.

Transcripts of interviews conducted by journalist Patti Waldmeir for her book Anatomy of a Miracle. The interviews were mainly conducted in 1994 and 1995.

The collection contains material relating to activities of associations in South Africa, which promoted solidarity with Cuba. Records include: minutes of the meetings, reports, financial statements, information and reports on conferences, work brigades to Cuba, newspaper clippings, speeches, publications and photographs.

The collection includes various materials relating to the first South African Democratic Elections in 1994 and the Local and National Elections of 1996 and 1999, as well as the South African transition to democracy and the country's New Constitution. The documents also illustrate the Boipatong Massacre of 1992, TRC submissions and reports, human rights and racial issues, political parties in South Africa, HIV/AIDS in this country, research material used by O'Malley for publishing a book on Mac Maharaj including tapes, CDS and transcripts of interviews with many prominent South Africans. This collection was donated to Historical Papers by Padraig O'Malley in 2008.

The collection consists of documents, conference papers, newspaper clippings, publications, minutes of meetings, press statements, reports, correspondence, photographs, media items, etc. relating to the South African Campaign to Ban Landmines (SACBL) and includes material relating to the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL).