There are 12 public holidays in South Africa annually, among them special days to honour workers, youth, women, freedom, heritage and human rights. Many public holidays in South Africa revolve around historical events that have deep meaning and significance for the population.
South Africa's public holidays in 2011 are:
|New Year's Day||January 1|
|Human Rights Day||March 21|
|Good Friday (Friday before Easter)||April 22|
|Family Day (Monday after Easter)||April 25|
|Freedom Day||April 27|
|Workers Day||May 1|
|Additional public Holiday|
|Youth Day||June 16|
|National Women's Day||August 9|
|Heritage Day||September 24|
|Day of Reconciliation||December 16|
|Christmas Day||December 25|
|Day of Goodwill||December 26|
The Public Holidays Act of 1994 determines that whenever a public holiday falls on a Sunday, the Monday following it will be a public holiday. Should a public holiday fall on a Saturday, it is celebrated on that day.
With the possible exception of Christmas Day and New Year's Day, most tourist services and attractions are open on South African public holidays. In addition most city shopping centres, restaurants and entertainment venues remain open. The business world, however, takes the opportunity for a well-deserved break.