2026 SOUTH AFRICA HOLIDAYS

2026 Public Holidays South Africa Service

The above is the list of 2026 public holidays declared in South Africa which includes federal, regional government holidays and popular observances. We also provide South Africa holiday calendar for 2026 in Word, Excel, PDF and printable online formats.

The Republic of South Africa has a total of twelve public holidays celebrated annually. The holidays are regulated by the Public Holidays Act. It further directs that in the event a public holiday falls on a Sunday, the celebration is marked on the next day.

The Public Holiday Act No. 48 also makes provision for the President to declare any day a public holiday through a government gazette notice. Every employer is expected to grant leave to employees. The workers must get paid time off during the holidays. Working on a public holiday is solely voluntary or arrived at through an agreement between the employer and employees. As such, workers must get extra pay for their services, usually double their normal daily wage rate or as per agreed terms. The provision may not apply to certain members of the public like the Defence Forces and Senior Management staff.

It might be of considerable importance to residents and visitors to take note of the public holidays as most businesses and non-essential services remain shut. However, a number of large chain stores remain operational. The Christian holidays of Good Friday and Easter Sunday are largely determined by the Ecclesiastical moon and therefore the dates may vary from year to year.

The official dates for observance of public holidays can be altered through an agreement and such a day cannot be considered as part of an employee's annual leave. Some holidays might be limited to select religious groups, for example, Christmas Day celebrated by Christians worldwide.