Holidays

South Africa Public Holidays Calculator

South Africa's public holidays for any year, calculated live from the actual rules, including the Sunday-to-Monday shift.

Year

The Sunday-to-Monday rule

Under South Africa's Public Holidays Act, whenever a public holiday falls on a Sunday, the following Monday automatically becomes a public holiday too — a simpler, one-directional version of the US federal observed-date system, since it only ever shifts forward and only triggers on a Sunday collision specifically, not a Saturday one.

A calendar shaped by a specific history

Several of the fixed dates on this list — Human Rights Day (March 21, the Sharpeville massacre anniversary), Freedom Day (April 27, the date of the first democratic elections in 1994), and Reconciliation Day (December 16) — were deliberately chosen after apartheid ended to mark specific events in that transition, making South Africa's calendar unusually tied to a single, recent, well-documented period of national history compared to most countries' more diffusely historical holidays.

Related

Related tools

UK Bank Holidays Calculator

Another Commonwealth-tradition calendar, with its own substitute-day rule.

Current Time in Cape Town

Check the current time alongside the holiday calendar.

Easter Date Calculator

Good Friday and Family Day (Easter Monday) both key off this calculation.

function computeEaster(year){ const a = year % 19; const b = Math.floor(year/100); const c = year % 100; const d = Math.floor(b/4); const e = b % 4; const f = Math.floor((b+8)/25); const g = Math.floor((b-f+1)/3); const h = (19*a + b - d - g + 15) % 30; const i = Math.floor(c/4); const k = c % 4; const l = (32 + 2*e + 2*i - h - k) % 7; const m = Math.floor((a + 11*h + 22*l)/451); const month = Math.floor((h + l - 7*m + 114)/31); const day = ((h + l - 7*m + 114) % 31) + 1; return new Date(Date.UTC(year, month-1, day)); } function southAfricaHolidays(year){ function sundayShift(date){ if(date.getUTCDay() === 0){ const d = new Date(date); d.setUTCDate(d.getUTCDate()+1); return d; } return date; } const easter = computeEaster(year); const goodFriday = new Date(easter); goodFriday.setUTCDate(easter.getUTCDate()-2); const familyDay = new Date(easter); familyDay.setUTCDate(easter.getUTCDate()+1); const raw = [ ['New Year\'s Day', new Date(Date.UTC(year,0,1))], ['Human Rights Day', new Date(Date.UTC(year,2,21))], ['Good Friday', goodFriday], ['Family Day (Easter Monday)', familyDay], ['Freedom Day', new Date(Date.UTC(year,3,27))], ['Workers\' Day', new Date(Date.UTC(year,4,1))], ['Youth Day', new Date(Date.UTC(year,5,16))], ['National Women\'s Day', new Date(Date.UTC(year,7,9))], ['Heritage Day', new Date(Date.UTC(year,8,24))], ['Day of Reconciliation', new Date(Date.UTC(year,11,16))], ['Christmas Day', new Date(Date.UTC(year,11,25))], ['Day of Goodwill', new Date(Date.UTC(year,11,26))], ]; return raw.map(([name,date]) => ({name, date, observed: sundayShift(date)})); } const now = new Date(); for(let y = now.getFullYear()-1; y <= now.getFullYear()+3; y++){ const opt = document.createElement('option'); opt.value = y; opt.textContent = y; if(y === now.getFullYear()) opt.selected = true; document.getElementById('hlYear').appendChild(opt); } const yearSelect = document.getElementById('hlYear'); const table = document.getElementById('hlTable'); function fmt(d){ return d.toLocaleDateString('en-US',{weekday:'short', month:'long', day:'numeric'}); } function render(){ const year = parseInt(yearSelect.value,10); const rows = southAfricaHolidays(year); table.innerHTML = rows.map(r => { let obsHtml = ''; if(r.observed && r.observed.getTime() !== r.date.getTime()){ obsHtml = ` (observed ${fmt(r.observed)})`; } return `

${r.name}${fmt(r.date)}${obsHtml}

`; }).join(''); } yearSelect.addEventListener('change', render); render();