When President Ramaphosa announced the first lockdown due to coronavirus on 23 March, it was clear a book industry already under pressure would face extraordinarily difficult times. March sales figures were somewhat saved by the Christmas-like rush in the 3 days before lockdown started, but April loomed long and empty.
Most bookshops and publishers were forced to cut April salaries by 20-30%, while staff had to work frantically from home to keep the wheels turning. Independent retailer Graffiti Books & Stationery in Montana, Pretoria, was hit with a double whammy when their shop was flooded during lockdown, causing damage of around R15 000. Publisher Pan MacMillan had to postpone their biggest publication of the year: Justice Dikgang Moseneke’s memoir. The SA Book Fair organisers had confirmed T.S. Eliot Prize winner Roger Robinson for this year’s fair in September, but had no choice but to cancel international guests as a precaution.
With lockdown extended, the picture is looking increasingly grim. Bookshops have only two ways of surviving: to negotiate free rental for the period, and to reduce salaries. Some landlords have been amenable, others less so. Where salaries have to be cut, employers can apply for TERS funding to reimburse their staff, and many are doing so.
In stage 4 of lockdown, selling of stationery and educational books will be permitted, and this will allow some bookshops to reopen their doors. The rules around stationery have been unclear to date, with supermarkets continuing to sell. CNA registered as an essentials provider and obtained all the relevant permits to sell stationery in selected stores, yet in some areas their staff were apprehended by police and in two instances, arrested.
Post-lockdown planning for the industry includes a scramble for sanitiser and masks for staff, as well procurement of thermal scanners to test for fever. Supply chains are changing rapidly, with some publishers opting to print books locally instead of in Singapore. Shipping from the east has been completely disrupted, with thousands of books stuck in customs. Ships that usually dock in Cape Town are now moored in Durban. Wholesalers are already warning of pending bottlenecks once their warehouses open, which will add to the pressures on all sides.
Price increases are inevitable, with the Rand at R23,30 to the Pound and R18,80 to the US Dollar at the time of writing, respective increases of 18% and 22% will filter through to selling prices almost immediately after lockdown. Long lead times will become the norm as seafreight replaces airfreight in the wake of ruined airlines and a rock-bottom Rand.
Many industry players are making approaches to government to have the bookselling industry recognised as an essential service. Hopefully there will be a positive outcome.
