Good news for South Africans about one public holiday in April

Due to a clause in the Public Holidays Act, South Africans will still enjoy the benefits of Freedom Day, which falls on Sunday, 27 April 2025.

South Africa has twelve public holidays, which start with New Year’s Day on 1 January and end with Boxing Day on 26 December.

However, the twelve public holidays do not mean South Africans will enjoy twelve additional paid holidays yearly.

When a public holiday falls on a Saturday, it will not move to a weekday. Simply put, people will not get a day off work.

The good news is that the Public Holidays Act makes a special provision for public holidays which fall on a Sunday.

“Whenever any public holiday falls on a Sunday, the following Monday shall be a public holiday,” states the Public Holidays Act, 1994.

Freedom Day, celebrated on 27 April and falling on a Sunday in 2025, will still result in a day off work on Monday, 28 April.

That means South Africans will have three working days off in April – Good Friday on 18 April, Family Day on 21 April, and Freedom Day on 28 April.

The bad news is that there is a public holiday that falls on a Saturday later in the year, which South Africans will miss out on.

National Women’s Day, celebrated on 9 August 2025, falls on a Saturday this year, meaning people will miss out on a day off work.

The Public Holidays Act does not make any special provision for a public holiday that falls on a Saturday.

This is partly because Saturdays are not deemed non-business days in the Public Holidays Act of 1994.

“Sunday or any public holiday shall be deemed to be a non-business day within the meaning of any law relating to bills of exchange or promissory notes,” it states.

Thanks to public holidays, South Africans will enjoy eleven fully paid additional days off work in 2025.

Depending on their contract, employees who work on public holidays can be entitled to double their ordinary pay.

The table below shows the public holidays observed in South Africa in 2025.