Union asks Ramaphosa for additional public holiday in December

The Federation of Union of South Africa (Fedusa) has written to President Cyril Ramaphosa, requesting for an additional paid public holiday in December 2022.

South Africa currently has a total of 12 public holidays and since public holidays are not counted as leave, they can be a real bonus, with many people targeting them to make long weekends last even longer.

However, Fedusa said its leadership was alerted to the fact that during 2022, working South Africans will only enjoy 11 out of the 12 paid holidays.

One public holiday short

“The matter was raised that Christmas falls on a Sunday this year, and in terms of the Public Holidays Act, “whenever any public holiday falls on a Sunday, the following Monday shall be a public holiday”. Consequently, Monday 26 December 2022, the Day of Goodwill, will then be deemed to fall outside of the ambit of the Public Holidays Act.”

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Injustice

The union said it remains resolute that working South Africans should not be dealt with what it called a “further injustice to their income security, already eroded during Covid-19.

“They must, therefore, be able to enjoy their full twelve paid holidays. The Federation believes that this gesture will go a long way in strengthening workers morale considering their difficulties faced, whilst boosting economic activity during the festive season.

“Fedusa believes that President Ramaphosa should seriously consider proclaiming 27 December 2022 as paid Public Holiday,” the union said.

Public holidays in SA

• 1 January – New Year’s Day
• 21 March – Human Rights Day
• 15 April – Good Friday
• 18 April Family Day (Follows Easter Sunday)
• 27 April – Freedom Day
• 1 May – Workers Day
• 16 June – Youth Day
• 9 August – National Women’s Day
• 24 September – Heritage Day
• 16 December – Day of Reconciliation
• 25 December – Christmas Day an
• 26 December – Day of Goodwill

Most public holidays

Myanmar has the most public holidays of any country in the world where citizen receive a full month’s worth of paid free days in a year to celebrate different holidays.

One of the biggest occasions in Myanmar is the water festival Thingyan in the middle of April, which is also the hottest time of the year.

In 2022, Thingyan was celebrated for eight consecutive days.

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