National Library of South Africa (NLSA)
Public Entity · Social Services · reports to Department of Sport, Arts and Culture (DSAC)
The National Library of South Africa is the country’s legal deposit library, operating under the National Library of South Africa Act, 1998 (Act No. 92 of 1998).
It collects and preserves published documents produced in or about South Africa, and under legal deposit legislation publishers must lodge copies of their publications with it. It maintains the national bibliography and the national union catalogue, and provides bibliographic and reference services.
It operates from two campuses, in Pretoria and Cape Town, the latter with origins in the South African Public Library founded in 1818. Its work includes digitisation of heritage collections, support to community libraries through the conditional grant for library services, and services to print-disabled readers. It reports to the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture.
Audit record, 5 years
Financial highlights, 2024/25
- Total Revenue
- R184m
- Total Expenditure
- −R187m
- Total Assets
- R2.0bn
- Total Liabilities
- R94m
Values in rand. Sparklines run oldest to newest and are scaled to each series, not to zero.
Leadership, 16 listed
- Chairperson
- Mr Bernado Maralack
- Board Members
- Ms Preetha Dabideen Mr Lavan Gopaul Mr Siyabonga Masuku Ms Julia Norrish Mr Matsebe Phasha Mr Thilivhali Ramawa Ms Nontlaza Sizani Mr Andries Smith
- Chief Executive Officer
- Dr Ralph Links
- Chief Financial Officer
- Mr Seeiso Tlali
- Directors
- Mr Marcus Maphile Ms Sonto Moleme Ms Nokuthula Musa Ms Hlengiwe Nkleko
- Communications Officers
- Ms Jolene Bhadais
Description written for this directory from the entity’s own published sources: www.nlsa.ac.za, www.gov.za