Public Holidays 2024

1 January: New Year’s Day

The first day of the year, a public holiday in many countries.

21 March: Human Rights Day

To remind South Africans about the sacrifices that accompanied the struggle for the attainment of democracy in South Africa.

29 March: Good Friday

Good Friday in South Africa falls on the Friday two days before Easter Sunday and celebrates Jesus Christ’s crucifixion on the cross.

01 April: Family Day

The day after Easter Sunday is a public holiday in South Africa known as Family Day.

27 April: Freedom Day

Annual celebration of South Africa’s first non-racial democratic elections of 1994.

1 May: Workers’ Day

The holiday serves both as a celebration of workers’ rights and as a reminder of the critical role that trade unions, the Communist Party and other labour organisations played in the fight against Apartheid.

16 June: Youth Day

The commemoration of Youth Day this year marks the 37th anniversary of the 16 June Soweto uprising and was celebrated under the theme “Working together for youth development and a drug free South Africa”.

9 August: National Women’s Day

Women’s Day marks the anniversary of the great women’s march of 1956, where women marched to the Union Buildings to protest against the carrying of pass books.

24 September: Heritage Day

On this day, South Africans were encouraged to celebrate their culture and the diversity of their beliefs and traditions, in the wider context of a nation that belongs to all its people.

16 December: Day of Reconciliation

The Day of Reconciliation has been created to mark the end of apartheid.

25 December: Christmas Day

Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world.

26 December: Day of Goodwill

In South Africa, the day after Christmas Day, 26 December, every year is designated the Day of Goodwill. It is set aside so that South Africans may continue the spirit of Christmas to all the people in the country.