A publishing company that stands to make more than R285m producing textbooks and learning and teaching support materials for the Department of Basic Education was registered three days after the contract specifications were issued.

News24 reports that Lighthouse Publishers (Pty) Ltd, was awarded 26 of the total approvals for the publishing of textbooks for grade one to three pupils across the country, despite being registered a day before the department’s formal briefing on the contract requirements.

A total of 6 385 titles submitted by 19 publishers were approved for publishing, with the total cost of the orders estimated at R1.6bn.

The department issued the terms of reference for the new catalogue on 24 June 2024, three days before the company was registered, and invited publishers to develop textbooks and submit them for evaluation.

Full News24 report