Public holidays in South Africa
South Africa has 13 public holidays in 2026.
These are South Africa's 12 public holidays. When one falls on a Sunday, the Monday after it is also a public holiday.
| Date | Holiday |
|---|---|
| 1 January Thursday | New Year's Day Public holiday |
| 21 March Saturday | Human Rights Day Public holiday |
| 3 April Friday | Good Friday Public holiday |
| 6 April Monday | Family Day Public holiday |
| 27 April Monday | Freedom Day Public holiday |
| 1 May Friday | Workers' Day Public holiday |
| 16 June Tuesday | Youth Day Public holiday |
| 9 August Sunday | National Women's Day Public holiday |
| 10 August Monday | National Women's Day (observed) Public holidayNational Women's Day falls on a Sunday, so the Monday is a public holiday. |
| 24 September Thursday | Heritage Day Public holiday |
| 16 December Wednesday | Day of Reconciliation Public holiday |
| 25 December Friday | Christmas Day Public holiday |
| 26 December Saturday | Day of Goodwill Public holiday |
Other days in 2026
Not statutory days off, but worth knowing.
| Date | Holiday |
|---|---|
| 5 April Sunday | Easter Sunday Observance |
| 10 May Sunday | Mother's Day Observance |
| 21 June Sunday | Father's Day Observance |
| 18 July Saturday | Nelson Mandela Day Observance |
Public holidays in 2027
South Africa has 14 public holidays in 2027. See 2027 in full.
| Date | Holiday |
|---|---|
| 1 January Friday | New Year's Day Public holiday |
| 21 March Sunday | Human Rights Day Public holiday |
| 22 March Monday | Human Rights Day (observed) Public holidayHuman Rights Day falls on a Sunday, so the Monday is a public holiday. |
| 26 March Friday | Good Friday Public holiday |
| 29 March Monday | Family Day Public holiday |
| 27 April Tuesday | Freedom Day Public holiday |
| 1 May Saturday | Workers' Day Public holiday |
| 16 June Wednesday | Youth Day Public holiday |
| 9 August Monday | National Women's Day Public holiday |
| 24 September Friday | Heritage Day Public holiday |
| 16 December Thursday | Day of Reconciliation Public holiday |
| 25 December Saturday | Christmas Day Public holiday |
| 26 December Sunday | Day of Goodwill Public holiday |
| 27 December Monday | Day of Goodwill (observed) Public holidayDay of Goodwill falls on a Sunday, so the Monday is a public holiday. |
Add these holidays to your calendar
Subscribe once and every public holiday from 2025 to 2028 appears in your phone or computer calendar — and updates itself if a date changes. Or get the printable 2026 calendar as a PDF.
🏖 Long weekends and the best days to take off
Holiday data from date-holidays by commenthol, based on Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 3.0; our lists are shared under the same licence. Checked against the official source: www.gov.za. Holidays can change — confirm with your employer or an official source. All sources.