The meaning of New Year’s Day
New Year festivities in South Africa are celebrated annually with excitement and happiness on January 1. New Year’s Day marks the start of the New Year, and is widely used in countries such as South Africa.
Is New Year’s Day a Public Holiday?
New Year’s Day is a public holiday. It is a day off for the general population, as schools and most businesses are closed. New Year celebrations are held across South Africa in January each year.
What do people do?
Most people have a day off work or school. Many New Year celebrations are enjoyed outdoors in South Africa because of the warm summer weather that many parts of the southern hemisphere experience during that time of the year. New Year’s Day is a popular celebration, so it is common for festivities to last for up to two days.
Friends and family customarily come together on December 31 and as the old year ends, the New Year is announced and greeted with jubilation, euphoria, and elation. It is common to welcome the New Year with cracker explosions and, in some instances, breathtaking firework displays. The New Year is also celebrated in the company of up to 80 000 spectators at the foot of Table Mountain, a landmark that overlooks Cape Town.
Public life
New Year’s Day is a public holiday in South Africa. South Africa’s Public Holidays Act 36 of 1994 determines that if a public holiday falls on a Sunday, the following Monday shall also be a public holiday.
Public transport is not affected and is usually busier than normal. Formal commercial institutions such as banks, post offices and small businesses are closed for business. Restaurants and other entertainment outlets are open with shortened hours.
Background
In Cape Town, there is some historical background behind the concept of the “Second New Year” and the significance of its celebration in South Africa. Slavery was common during the 17th century and slaves were not granted any days off work. They were granted a day off one day a year, which would be the first day after New Year’s Day, on January 2.
The slaves used this opportunity to visit friends from the one house to another, dress up in festive attire and to celebrate their own “New Year”. They utilised the second day of the New Year as a way to protest against their oppressed lifestyle by engaging in cheerful singing, dancing, and parading through the streets.
The second day of New Year was an event that grew in later years, in which brass bands were incorporated and people’s outfits became more colourful. The bands and outfits were significant to specific groups and people started to perform and compete against each other as they marched through the streets of Cape Town. Today’s festivities occur on New Year’s Day, with more than 13 000 painted faces belonging to people dressed in colourful outfits with props, umbrellas, whistles, and other items to make noise. This occasion turns Cape Town’s streets into a vibrant rush of beats and lively lyrics.
Source: https://www.timeanddate.com.
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