Iconic Afrikaans publishing house LAPA was sold to Penguin Random House South Africa in February, where it will now function as an imprint and independent division of the global giant. Their offices will remain in Pretoria, while the Cape Town arm of the publishing house will be based at PRH’s premises in the Mother City. Sylvia de Wet will continue in her role as Managing Director at LAPA.

LAPA’s history stretches back to before the Second World War, when J.P. van der Walt founded Springbok Biblioteek under the erstwhile Unie-Boekhandel. In 1958 his son, Manie van der Walt, joined the company as the managing director and in 1961 the publishing house was renamed J.P. van der Walt en Seun (Edms.) Bpk

More than 30 years later, in October 1996, an apolitical organisation promoting the Afrikaans language and culture called the ATKV (Afrikaanse Taal- en Kultuurvereniging) bought the company and renamed it LAPA Uitgewers (Pty) Ltd, an acronym for ‘Lees Afrikaans, praat Afrikaans’ (read Afrikaans, talk Afrikaans). This motto was recently changed to ‘A home for readers’.

The merger brings benefits to both parties, with PRH increasing their local market share and diversifying their customer base, while LAPA gains access to international opportunities and the means to expand their publishing list.

According to Sylvia de Wet, the deal will strengthen LAPA’s brand as the biggest Afrikaans publisher and market leader in Afrikaans: 

‘We look forward to be part of this international publishing giant, eager to learn, to offer support and to continue honouring our core business – delivering service and products of the highest standard to our diverse markets, including our loyal Afrikaans readers.’

Pictured: Sylvia de Wet (MD of LAPA) and Steve Connolly (MD of Penguin Random House) at the LAPA Authors Party on 26 February.