Citizens score another public holiday this year
The declaration of December 27 as a public holiday will ensure that workers are not unduly disadvantaged
President Jacob Zuma has declared December 27, 2016, a public holiday throughout the Republic of South Africa.
According to the South African Government website, the President has declared the date as a public holiday following a request by the Federation of Unions of South Africa (FEDUSA).
The request by FEDUSA was motivated by the fact that this year workers in the country will only have 11 public holidays instead of 12, due to the fact that Christmas falls on a Sunday. According to section 2(1) of the Public Holidays Act, 1994 “whenever a public holiday falls on a Sunday, the following Monday shall be a public holiday”.
This year, however, the Monday following Christmas is another public holiday – Day of Goodwill. This has resulted in the two public holidays overlapping.
The declaration of December 27 as a public holiday will ensure that workers are not unduly disadvantaged because of this unusual event and are still titled to their 12 paid public holidays.
