With the coronavirus steadily spreading around the globe, the first sign of things to come was the postponement of the Bologna Children’s Book Fair in February. The fair was supposed to take place from 30 March to 2 April, and was initially rescheduled for 4 to 7 May this year before being called off completely on 11 March. The London Book Fair, which was to run 10 to 12 March, announced on 4 March they were cancelling until 2021. This left many South African publishers who regularly attend the fair either stuck in London or forced to cancel their travel plans. Those who had travelled faced 14 days of quarantine upon their return.

While SAPnet reported an 8,6% decline in sales in week 12 of 2020, some bricks-and-mortar booksellers saw a more significant drop in the first two weeks of March. Bargain Books reported a double-digit decline in sales over this period, with shoppers steering clear from malls. After the lockdown announcement, however, sales started going through the roof as customers stocked up on fiction, games and puzzles to see them through the 21-day period. According to owner John O’Sullivan, March numbers will be carried by the sudden spike in sales, but April will be hit hard while stores shut for lockdown. ‘It’s going to have a massive impact…we don’t know what position landlords are going to adopt, whether they will charge us rent for the period. We’re obviously going resist that, but if landlords are unreasonable, it’s going to be difficult.’

Van Schaik’s saw similar declines over the last two weeks. Melvin Kaabwe expressed concern about the year ahead, with ‘academic book retailers already trailing last year by 30 – 40% even before corona’. Digital sales have not picked up the slack, with a lack of consistent adoption one of the main reasons, according to Kaabwe: ‘Even in one university you would find a multiplicity of platforms.’

Griffin Shea at indie bookshop Bridge Books reckons they can survive for the next month, even with doors closed. ‘We’re lucky that we had a few large orders last month that will cover our overhead for a bit, and on the non-profit side we got a small grant that will keep it running for a few months. It’s quite tricky to juggle everything, but we’re all in this together, and at least we’re not in the US.’Takealot expressed hope to keep trading during the lockdown period, but with most wholesalers closed from 27 March to 16 April, it seems unlikely customers will be able to order books online.

An empty Sandton City mall, pictured on 16 March (Photo by Derick-Louw Smit)

Melinda Ferguson (middle) with Eloise Wessels, Managing Director at NB Publishers (right) and Marga Stoffer, Publishing Manager at NB Publishers (left).

The SA book trade was taken by surprise when NB Publishers announced the acquisition of MFBooks as one of their imprints. Melinda Ferguson explains how the match came about: ‘I am a publisher who thrives on connection. From the moment I met NB’s MD Eloise Wessels, Publishing Manager, Marga Stoffer, and Head of Non-Fiction, Erika Oosthuizen, as well as the rest of the team, I felt an affinity with the house, like I could really be part of the family. I also have a crazy work ethic and from the get-go I have been impressed by NB’s infrastructure and amazing attention to detail. I’ve been wanting to stretch myself as a publisher for a while and it feels like with the support and business acumen of NB, I will be able to really do that.’

The MFBooks stable is off to a flying start in 2020, with Eva Mazza’s Sex, Lies Declassified – the sequel to last year’s bestseller, Sex Lies & Stellenbosch – to hit the shelves in April. June or July will see the release of Brutal School Ties – The Parktown Boys Tragedy by bestselling author and talk show radio host, Sam Cowen, and in August the much-anticipated fourth book by Prof. Pumla Dineo Gqola, Female Fear Factory, will see the light. Towards the end of the year there’s Lollipop Lounge owner Gigi’s much awaited memoir Nipple Caps & G-Strings (written with journalist Nan Roux) and the year ends with Helena Kriel’s new book, Meditating with Rhinos.  

According to Eloise Wessels, MFBooks fits in perfectly with the company’s long-term strategy: ‘Melinda focuses on some of the same areas of interest in her publishing as NB Publishers, including excellent narrative non-fiction and adult fiction. She has an exceptional instinct for a good story that is well told, gripping and poignant and that is what we’re all about at NB Publishers.’

Jacana Media, on 10 February, announced the departure of Blackbird Books from their portfolio, with publisher Thabiso Mahlape striking it out on her own from 13 March 2020. In Shay Heydenrych’s letter to the trade she expressed their sadness to see her go, but said they were ‘proud to see her fly!’

Mahlape studied publishing at Tuks before joining Jacana. ‘Maggie and Bridget are true book people,’ she stated in a recent Bookmark interview. ‘I couldn’t have worked anywhere else.’

The Blackbird imprint came into being when Mahlape needed more time at home with her child. Her first success was in 2015 with Piggy Boy’s Blues by Nakhane Toure, but it was Panashe Chigumadzi’s Sweet Medicine which truly put the Blackbird name on the map, with more than 6 000 copies sold to date. Today the catalogue boasts more than 30 titles. Mahlape hinted at her plans for the future: ‘At first I published too broadly. Now, I see Blackbird purely as a literary fiction beast.’

Minister of Higher education, science and technology, Dr Blade Nzimande has again reiterated that eliminating corruption and maladministration in NSFAS is a priority.

Placed under administration in August of 2018 when the scheme was on the brink of collapse, in a statement made in January 2020 it was revealed that five internal forensic investigations have been launched and four criminal cases have been opened, while a further 510 instances of alleged fraud have been handed to the Commercial Crimes Unit. It is significant that much of the fraud and corruption not only benefitted a few individuals but allowed external parties to gain inappropriate control over several institutions.

The administrator has outlined the positive rationale behind no longer distributing a specific book allowances, as this system excluded the freedom to choose where to buy – including from second-hand retailers. On the downside of issuing book vouchers, a bookseller was found to have conspired to allow students to exchange book vouchers for electronic goods like TVs and sound systems.

The Alliance for Academic Success has again written to the minister to outline the seriously deleterious consequences of the cash allowance for learning material. Not only have bookstores been seriously affected, but the entire development and distribution of undergraduate learning content is being compromised.

The Alliance restated their commitment to working with government and all stakeholders to ensure NSFAS students and higher education in general get support.

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