Diversity challenge for South Africa

The event drew a high number of participants and a record attendance at a gala dinner for the Booksellers’ Choice Award. The prize was sponsored by Nielsen BookData and won by Antjie Krog’s A Question of Tongues (Random House). But despite the upbeat prize event, the SA industry continued to grapple with challenges relating to its diversity.
Lindelwe Mabandla, PASA chairman, and Hentie Gericke, chairman of the South Africa Bookellers Association (SABA), both highlighted the state textbook supply in the province of Gauteng. SABA recently lost a court case in which it had attempted to challenge the procurement of books by a single government-appointed supplier. Both associations have seen the ruling as a threat to the freedom and growth of the industry; SABA is appealing the court decision.
New Africa Books m.d. Brian Wafawarowa penned a hard-hitting article about lack of diversity in SA’s book sector. Timed to coincide with the meeting, it claimed that the absence of a diversified bookselling infrastructure had encouraged publishers to direct their output at the white middle-class and suburban population. "It goes without saying that a more diverse reading and distribution community would encourage more diverse and sustainable publishing," he said.
SA’s Department of Arts and Culture is to develop a National Book Policy that will target all those involved in the book publishing, distribution and retail chain. The meetings also saw publication of a report on the state of copyright in the SA market, which concluded that the industry must build its profile before lobbying for necessary reform--although it accepted that the Department of Trade and Industry had dragged its feet on copyright.
In the trade books sector, attention was focused on an upcoming visit to SA by Volker Neumann, president of the Frankfurt Book fair, to renew talks about FBF’s involvement in a SA Book Fair.