It’s a shame that public holidays that fall on Saturdays don’t mean Mondays are holidays…
A person writing holidays on a calendar/iStock/@sefa ozel
There are only three more holidays left in 2024, and in 2025 there will only be 12 holidays.
“South Africa will have 14 public holidays in 2024, two of which are ‘additional’ days due to the national elections on May 29, 2024, and the commemoration of Youth Day, which this year falls on Sunday, June 16.” (Business Tech)
In South Africa, the Public Holidays Act (Act No. 36 of 1994) stipulates that if a public holiday falls on a Sunday, the following Monday will also be a holiday as Sunday is part of the weekend.
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However, next year we will be at a disadvantage as Women’s Day falls on a Saturday and Saturday is not included in the Public Holidays Act.
Freedom Day falls on a Sunday, resulting in a long weekend, with a day off on Monday, April 28, 2025. This year, Election Day was established as a “free” day, resulting in an extra holiday, but next year there will be a flat 12-day holiday, plus an extra “out-of-season” long weekend.
Read more: Ministry of Education releases 2025 school calendar
The year 2025 will be “slightly less turbulent, economically speaking.”
“There have previously been proposals to move all national holidays to Mondays or Fridays, as this has proven to be much less disruptive to business operations (and therefore more beneficial for the economy). School calendars already plan their terms around public holidays to reduce disruption as much as possible.” (Business Tech)
But there’s a bonus: There will be even more long weekends in 2025. The Business Tech website provides a breakdown of the holidays.
Breakdown of South African public holidays in 2025 / Business Tech
The breakdown in public holidays does not impact white-collar workers as much as it does businesses and frontline workers.
If a public holiday falls on a weekend or weekday, consideration will be given to work on the public holiday, benefits under the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA), and overall business operations during the public holiday.
“If a public holiday falls on an employee’s regular working day and the employee works on that public holiday, the employee is entitled to receive twice the employee’s regular pay rate for that day, or, if it is greater, the employee’s regular pay rate for that day plus the amount the employee earned for the hours worked on that day. However, if an employee does not work on a public holiday that falls on a regular working day, the employee is entitled to receive the employee’s regular pay rate for that day.” (Business Tech)
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