Despite the existence of a Book Trade Association and the presence of some large conglomerates operating both inside and outside South Africa, efforts to gather sensible statistics are often met with either confusion or evasion. What follows is therefore a provisional sketch of publishing in South Africa. In a transition to a post-apartheid South Africa, my argument will be that the havoc of the past has made reconstruction essential and part of that reconstruction must involve publishing in all its aspects. Unfortunately, racial terminology remains unavoidable in the short term and I shall therefore refer to 'whites' in the conventional sense; 'blacks' as a generic term for all designated 'coloured', 'Asian' and 'black' by the state; and to 'Africans' generically for those who speak an indigenous language other than Afrikaans. A short history of publishing in South Africa Pre-1948 The South African press [by which we may include publishing] has been a sectional press throughout its history. Race-not language, religion or culture-has proved to be the dominant characteristic of this sectionalism, moreover, which has given the press in this country a unique status among the world's mass media of communication. (Switzer and Switzer 1978: 55) The first 250 years of colonial rule in South Africa ensured that, from its earliest days, the Cape Colony was dependent on Europe for most of its books and other printed matter (Randall 1983: 105). In 1795, however, Johan Ritter was appointed by the Dutch colonial officials to establish a press in Cape Town on their behalf (Donker 1983: 30). Other printers for government and church soon followed. After the British occupation of 1806 and the influx of British settlers, the first signs of a free press in Dutch and English emerged. The first fully independent newspaper was the Commercial Advertiser launched by George Greig in January 1824 (Switzer and Switzer 1978: 57) By 1842 Cape Town had nine presses, seven newspapers and six bookshops (Randall 1983: 105), while the first fully-fledged South African publishing house was started in 1854 by Jan Carel Juta (Donker, 1983: 30). Yet the majority of books continued to be imported from Europe, especially Britain, Holland and Germany, and these importations reflected the colonial view of the times. For example, in Hugh Bryan's Our Country: an elementary history of Natal (published by Thos. Nelson in 1909): '[It was]. .. quite clear that the Zulus could not rule themselves or keep order in their country, so the white men were forced to do it for them. .. [and]. .. thousands of foolish natives were killed or put in prison' (quoted in Randall 1983: 105).