President Jacob Zuma has decided to declare Tuesday, 27 December 2016 a public holiday. The additional holiday comes because Christmas Day falls on a Sunday.
Zuma made the decision in terms of section 2A of the Public Holidays Act, the presidency said in a statement.
“The president has declared the date as a public holiday following a request by the Federation of Unions of South Africa (Fedusa),” it said.
“The request by Fedusa was motivated by the fact that this year, workers will only have 11 public holidays instead of 12 due to fact that 25 December falls on a Sunday.”
According to section 2(1) of the Public Holidays Act, “whenever a public holiday falls on a Sunday, the following Monday shall be a public holiday”.
However, this year the Monday following 25 December is another public holiday, the Day of Goodwill. This has resulted in the two public holidays overlapping, the presidency said.
“The declaration of 27 December as a public holiday will ensure that workers are not unduly disadvantaged because of this unusual event and are still entitled to their 12 paid public holidays.” — © 2016 NewsCentral Media