Second Anglo-Boer War
This Second Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902) is thought to be the first war documented through photographs. This photo archive illustrates the course of this war in well over 750 photographs. The collection contains photos of pitched battles, military equipment, both British and Boer units, volunteer corps, prisoners of war and concentration camps.

Afrikaner history, the history of the white Boer population in South Africa
Part of the Afrikaner history has been recorded in the collection of 100 photographs from the period of the Boer Republics of Transvaal and the Orange Free State (1880-1902). The collection includes photos of President Kruger meeting President Reitz during the founding of the Transvaal Republic.

Dutch history in South Africa
Part of the Dutch-South African history can be retold through the collection of 400 photos on the history of the Netherlands-South African Railway Company (NZASM). The photos mainly feature the railway line commissioned by President Paul Kruger and built by the Dutch at the beginning of the 20th century. The railway line went from Pretoria to Lourenco Marques (present day Maputo).

People
The photo archive also contains a sub collection People, with more than 1000 photos. The collection can be divided into three parts:
- The historical collection of people, including portraits of Paul Kruger, M.T. Steyn, P.J. Joubert, C.R. de Wet and L. Botha.
- The ‘current’ collection of people. This includes portraits/ photos of Afrikaner literary writers and politicians, for example, André Brink, Breyten Breytenbach, Wilma Stockenström, Lina Spies, Elisabeth Eybers, Elsa Joubert, Louis Kruger, N.P. van Wyk Louw, C.J. Langenhoven, C. Louis Leipoldt and Dalene Matthee. Many of these people have visited the South Africa House in the past 50 years. Most of the photos were taken during these visits.
- Photos of current and former committee members of the various institutes of the South Africa House, for example, Hans Ester, Messrs. Beelaerts van Blokland and N. Mansvelt.

Geographic subjects
Geographic subjects, consisting of photos from different regions of South Africa as well as the flora and fauna of the country, have been extensively represented in the collection in more than 250 photos.

Culture
The roughly 2000 remaining photos mainly cover ‘culture’. This includes anthropology, inhabitants, visual arts, language and literature, radio and television, sports, films, monuments, culture-oriented institutions, museums, exhibitions, music, ballet, decorative arts and traditional costumes.