South Africans will enjoy Tuesday, 27 December 2022, as a public holiday in lieu of Christmas Day falling on a Sunday.

This follows a declaration to this effect by President Cyril Ramaphosa in terms of Section 2A of the Public Holidays Act.

In terms of the 2022 annual calendar, Christmas Day, 25 December, falls on a Sunday.

Section 2(1) of the Public Holidays Act provides that “whenever a public holiday falls on a Sunday, the following Monday shall be a public holiday”.

In this instance, the Monday following the 25 December 2022 is another public holiday, the Day of Goodwill.

If the holiday of Sunday 25 December were to be moved to Monday 26 December, this would cancel the holiday of 26 December or cause the two holidays – which are part of 12 paid public holidays annually – to overlap.

This would mean workers would only have 11 paid public holidays in this year, while Section 5 of the Public Holidays Act provides that “… every employee shall be entitled to … at least the number of public holidays as provided for in this Act.”

In view of the unique circumstances around the 2022 calendar, and to uphold relevant labour law principles and practices, President Ramaphosa has declared Tuesday, 27 December, as a public holiday in lieu of Christmas Day.

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