A list of public holidays in South Africa:[1]
The Public Holidays Act (Act No 36 of 1994)[2] determines that whenever any public holiday falls on a Sunday, the Monday following it will be a public holiday.[1]
Once-off holidays [edit]
Since 1994 election days have been declared ad hoc public holidays.
31 December 1999 and 2 January 2000 were declared public holidays to accommodate the Y2K changeover, and 3 January 2000 was automatically a public holiday because the previous holiday was a Sunday.[3]
2 May 2008 was declared a public holiday when Human Rights Day and Good Friday coincided on 21 March 2008.[4]
27 December 2011 was declared a holiday by president Kgalema Motlanthe as Christmas Day fell on a Sunday which generally makes the following Monday a public holiday. However the following Monday the 26 December 2011 was the Day of Goodwill and therefore decreased the number of paid public holidays for the year.
Religious public holidays [edit]
The Christian holidays of Christmas Day and Good Friday remained in secular post-apartheid South Africa's calendar of public holidays. The Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities (CRL Rights Commission), a chapter nine institution established in 2004, held countrywide consultative public hearings in June and July 2012 to assess the need for a review of public holidays following the receipt of complaints from minority groups about unfair discrimination. The CRL Rights Commission stated that they would submit their recommendations to the Department of Home Affairs, the Department of Labour, various Portfolio Committees and the Office of the Presidency by October 2012.[5][6] On 10 November 2012 the Minister of Home Affairs Naledi Pandor told Christian protesters objecting to the removal of Christian public holidays that she had not received any enquiries from the CRL Rights Commission yet.[7] The CRL Rights Commission published its recommendations on 17 April 2013, including the scrapping of some existing public holidays to free up days for some non-Christian religious public holidays.[8][9]
Historical public holidays [edit]
South Africa's present calendar of public holidays was introduced in 1994. During the period between Union in 1910, and the establishment of the present republic in 1994, the following were the official public holidays:
| Date |
English Name |
| 1 January |
New Year's Day (1910–present) |
| The Friday before Easter Sunday |
Good Friday (1910–present) |
| The Monday following Easter Sunday |
Easter Monday (1910–1979), Family Day (1980–present) |
| 6 April |
Van Riebeeck's Day (1952–1974), Founder's Day (1980–1994) |
| 1st Friday in May |
Workers' Day (1987–1989) |
| 1 May |
Workers' Day (1990–present) |
| 40th day after Easter |
Ascension Day (1910–1993) |
| 24 May |
Empire Day (1910–1951) |
| 31 May |
Union Day (1910–1960), Republic Day (1961–1993) |
| 2nd Monday in July |
Queen's Birthday (1952–1960) |
| 10 July |
Family Day (1961–1974) |
| 1st Monday in August |
King's Birthday (1910–1951) |
| 1st Monday in September |
Settlers' Day (1952–1979) |
| 10 October |
Kruger Day (1952–1993) |
| 16 December |
Dingaan's Day (1910–1951), Day of the Covenant (1952–1979), Day of the Vow (1979–1994), Day of Reconciliation (1995–present) |
| 25 December |
Christmas Day (1910–present) |
| 26 December |
Boxing Day (1910–1979), Day of Goodwill (1980–present) |
References [edit]
External links [edit]
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Public holidays in South Africa
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