{"id":868492,"date":"2026-08-03T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=868492"},"modified":"2026-08-03T12:57:58","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T10:57:58","slug":"first-of-south-africas-two-extra-public-holidays-coming-next-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/868492\/first-of-south-africas-two-extra-public-holidays-coming-next-week\/","title":{"rendered":"First of South Africa’s two ‘extra’ public holidays coming next week"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

South Africans will get the first of two \u201cextra\u201d public holidays next week, with Monday, 10 August, becoming a day off because National Women\u2019s Day falls on a Sunday this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The additional holiday is provided for under the Public Holidays Act 36 of 1994, which states that when a public holiday falls on a Sunday, the following Monday automatically becomes a public holiday as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe days mentioned in Schedule 1 shall be public holidays, and whenever any public holiday falls on a Sunday, the following Monday shall be a public holiday,\u201d Section 2(1) of the Act states. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This means South Africans will enjoy a long weekend, with the holiday observed on Monday, 10 August, while National Women\u2019s Day itself remains a public holiday on Sunday, 9 August.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The law makes a clear distinction between public holidays that fall on Sundays and those that fall on Saturdays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Sundays trigger an additional public holiday on the following Monday, there is no equivalent provision for holidays that fall on a Saturday. In those cases, the holiday is observed only on the Saturday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was tested by the Labour Appeal Court. In the case of Randfontein Estates Ltd v National Union of Mineworkers, the court found that the Monday holiday is \u201cin addition to\u201d the Sunday public holiday rather than replacing it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In other words, Sunday retains its status as a public holiday while Monday becomes an additional paid public holiday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Act also gives employers and employees some flexibility over how public holidays are observed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Section 2(2) states that, notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (1), any public holiday shall be exchangeable for any other day which is fixed by agreement or agreed to between an employer and employee.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This allows the official public holiday to be swapped for another day, provided both parties agree. The August long weekend will be the first of two extra public holidays South Africans are expected to receive this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Local elections<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The second is expected on Wednesday, 4 November, when South Africans head to the polls for the 2026 local government elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

President Cyril Ramaphosa announced<\/a> in April that the municipal elections would be held on 4 November 2026 following discussions at the Extended Presidential Coordinating Council meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Election days have traditionally been declared public holidays to allow voters to cast their ballots, and the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has confirmed that 4 November 2026 will be designated as a public holiday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The confirmation came after concerns were raised that the election could disrupt the matric examination period because many schools serve as voting stations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking after discussions between Parliament\u2019s Standing Committee on Appropriations, the IEC and the Department of Home Affairs, committee chairperson Mmusi Maimane said the electoral body had already addressed the issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe IEC replied that through consultation with the Department of Basic Education, there will be minimal disruptions to matriculants as the day will be designated as a public holiday,\u201d Maimane said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although the election date has been announced and the IEC has confirmed that the day will be a public holiday, a formal legal process still needs to be completed before it becomes official.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The election date must first be formally proclaimed in the Government Gazette by the Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister, Velenkosini Hlabisa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A separate proclamation by President Ramaphosa declaring the day a public holiday is then expected closer to the election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ramaphosa said Hlabisa had been involved in selecting the date and supported 4 November because it falls outside the festive season, is likely to improve voter turnout, and would have only a limited impact on schools and the matric examination timetable.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

South Africans have two extra public holidays left to enjoy in 2026. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":846605,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"posted","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"2084233074707931440","_sma_facebook_post_id":"191437357620492_2165439930943073","_sma_instagram_post_id":"17981965368046713","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[6303,26022,26021,853],"class_list":["post-868492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government","tag-elections","tag-national-womens-day","tag-public-holidays-act-36-of-1994","tag-south-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/868492","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=868492"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/868492\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":868543,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/868492\/revisions\/868543"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/846605"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=868492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=868492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=868492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}