In 2013 SAHA conducted an oral history and photographic project exploring the legacy of the 1913 Land Act in three communities (Braklaagte, Driefontein and Mogopa) in South Africa in order to mark the centenary of this act. Contained in this collection are the materials produced and collected in the course of Land Act Legacy Project. The collection consists of oral history materials, photographs taken during the project, materials collected from community members and project documentation.

Books on a variety of topics relating to South and Southern Africa donated to the South African History Archive (SAHA) by the Netherlands Institute of Southern Africa to allow researchers to consult while vising at SAHA. Also includes posters.

This collection consists of audio-recordings and transcripts of interviews conducted with ZAPU survivors and other individuals portrayed in the Zenzo Nkobi images in SAHA collection AL3265 to source a more accurate and detailed analogy of events experienced by these individuals within the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) and its armed wing the Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army (ZPRA) during that period, as well as their understanding of the role played by ZAPU in achieving independence in Zimbabwe. The interviewees are David Beer, Sibongile Khumalo (pseudonym), Dumiso Dabengwa, Benjamin Dube, Richard Dube, Charles Madonko, Caroline Mhlanga, Christopher Moyo, Jack Mpofu, Edward Nare, Mtshana Ncube, Longman Ndebele, Callistus Ndlovu, Moses Mzila-Ndlovu, Parks Ndlovu, Regina Ndlovu, Amos Ngwenya, Thomas Ngwenya, Meeting Nkala, Abraham Nkiwane, Zephaniah Nkomo, Percious Nleya, Grace Noko, Elingworth Poli and Cetshwayo Sithole.

The APF collection consists of paper-based and digital documents, posters, ephemera, audio-visual and oral history materials. The documents, ephemera and audio-visual materials were collected by Dale McKinley over a two year period through the APF’s own office; through individual leaders/activists/members both at the APF and community affiliate levels, and through his own substantial personal archive accumulated over a period of ten years as a co-founding member, activist and elected leader of the APF. His countless handwritten notes found all through the collection, but particularly in sections pertaining to meetings, are testament to his commitment to and involvement in the APF on many levels. In many instances where minutes are absent, McKinley’s handwritten notes are the only records documenting a particular meeting in this collection.

The APF collection has been arranged into three distinct series for the paper-based materials, the digital born materials, and the oral history materials. The audio-visual materials, posters, t-shirts, banner and stickers have been described as a further series in the inventory. However, the posters have been added to the SAHA Poster collection (AL2446) and the t-shirts, banner and stickers to the SAHA Ephemera collection (AL2540). The call numbers for these items have been added to the inventory to facilitate access. The posters, t-shirts, banner and stickers have been digitised.

The original order of the paper-based collection has mostly been retained. Materials relating to meetings, e.g. minutes and related documents, were not regrouped into the various APF committees and sub-committees, but rather kept in chronological order, together with related material to show the organic progress of development in terms of APF campaigns and APF work-related issues.

Although the digital born series holds many of the documents contained in hard copy in the paper-based collection, a decision was made to arrange this as a separate series, as the original order of materials differs from that of the paper-based collection. The order on folder level has been retained, and on item level rearranged in a chronological order.

The oral history project materials have been arranged into two sub-series of audio interviews and transcripts in alphabetical order by interviewee surname.

The Mafela Trust collection consists of paper-based materials, digital materials, photographs, oral history interviews (audio cassettes and Hi8 video cassettes), and VHS video material.

The original order in which materials were received was not retained. A discussion with the Mafela Trust's national coordinator revealed that no proper filing system was in place in the office of origin, and his subsequent artificial order (defined by sections Vatican A, B, C etc.) did not allow for effective and systematic arrangement and retrieval of archival materials. (Meticulous record-keeping allows for reversal of current arrangement). The current system of arrangement embarks on an attempt to reflect the organisation's developmental history in terms of its aims and objectives, and thus allows for more effective access to the materials.

The paper-based and digital collections of the Mafela Trust archives have been arranged as two separate series. Although some duplication of documents exist, especially with materials created around 2000 onwards, the first series of paper-based materials contain archives that were generally created prior to 2000, and includes a fairly large number of handwritten and manuscript material. 49 items (625pp) from this series have been digitised to facilitate access. The digital collection commences circa late 1990s/2000+. It should be noted that the arrangement of the paper-based collection does not correspond with that of the digital collection.

Photographs from Gille De Vlieg's collection AL3274 were used in the "Entering Tembisa Exhibition that took place as a part of the project on the 24th September 2011.

Researchers can request unedited transcripts of the interviews from the Forced Migration Studies Programme at Wits University directly.

This collection consists mainly of learner and educator portfolios submitted for the 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 competitions by province, and relating administrative material. Some portfolios include CDs, DVDs and photographs. A number of gaps have been identified in the collection that has been donated so far. The material from the 2006 competition shows an absence of learner and educator portfolios from the KwaZulu-Natal, Northern Cape, North West and Western Cape provinces. However, the absence of these portfolios could also indicate that no portfolios were submitted from these provinces for that year. 2006 and 2007 competitions lack administrative material. No educator portfolios were received from any of the provinces for the 2008 competition. The list of award winners from the different provinces in this category is proof that these portfolios do exist.

The collection is arranged according to the chapter structure of The Dream Deferred. Written in eight parts The Dream Deferred roughly spans a century, from the early 1900s to 2007 when the book was published.

Interview transcripts are grouped with relevant chapters and correlate to interviews recorded on audio casette / CD / mini disc classified under ‘X’.