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Public holiday and long weekend planner South Africa
See every upcoming South African public holiday, which ones create long weekends, and exactly how many leave days you need to extend each one.
Last reviewed 13 October 2026 · next scheduled review 15 November 2026 · runs entirely in your browser
How to use it
- Read the holiday list - Holidays are listed with the day of the week and days remaining.
- Look for the long weekend marker - A holiday on a Monday or Friday already forms a three-day weekend.
- Check the leave suggestion - Where a holiday falls mid-week, the tool shows how many leave days would bridge it to a weekend.
- Book early - Accommodation and flights in South Africa sell out quickly around public holiday weekends.
Leave is granted at your employer's discretion under the Basic Conditions of Employment Act. This figure only shows which breaks a given budget of leave days could stitch into a longer one.
Your long weekends
Showing national public holidays. Choose a province to add that province's own holidays.
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Friday 2026-04-03 to Monday 2026-04-06
Good Friday 2026
4 days off · no leave needed
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Saturday 2026-04-25 to Monday 2026-04-27
Freedom Day 2026
3 days off · no leave needed
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Friday 2026-05-01 to Sunday 2026-05-03
Workers' Day 2026
3 days off · no leave needed
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Saturday 2026-08-08 to Monday 2026-08-10
National Women's Day 2026
3 days off · no leave needed
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Friday 2026-12-25 to Sunday 2026-12-27
Christmas Day 2026
3 days off · no leave needed
This tool lists every upcoming South African public holiday and works out which ones form a long weekend on their own and which need one or more leave days to connect to a weekend.
How the breaks actually line up
South Africa has twelve public holidays a year, plus any day declared a public holiday by proclamation, usually after an election or a national event. When a public holiday falls on a Sunday, the following Monday is a public holiday instead. When it falls on a Saturday, it stays where it is and there is no substitute day.
The most valuable breaks are the ones where a single weekday between a public holiday and a weekend can be taken as leave. The planner above looks for exactly those, and shows how many leave days each option costs.
School holidays are not public holidays
Public holidays apply to everyone. School holidays apply to public schools, are set in the annual school calendar gazette, and are much longer. A long weekend built around a public holiday is not an opportunity to take children out of school - that is a separate decision with its own consequences.
If you are planning family travel, cross-reference the school calendar and the public holidays together. The cheapest weeks to travel inland are usually the ones inside the school terms, not the ones between them.
Leave is granted, not owed
The Basic Conditions of Employment Act gives employees annual leave measured in days, and an employer has a say in when it is taken. Many employers apply a first-come rule over popular long weekends, and some shut down entirely over December.
Submit leave requests early for the obvious dates, and keep a contingency: a request submitted in January for a break in April is far more likely to be approved than one submitted two weeks before.
How this fits into the rest of the site
A calculator answers "what number", but the decision behind it is usually about a date and an official process. If you are checking whether a deadline has passed, the Important Dates Centre carries the published dates with their sources. If you are checking a government status, no calculator can help you and no website outside government can either - the relevant official link is listed at the bottom of this page.
We do not claim to be a government service and this tool has no official standing. It is an independent estimate published for planning, with its sources named so you can check every figure against the body that actually decides it.
Frequently asked questions
Is a Saturday public holiday moved to a Monday?Toggle answer
No, and this is the most common mistake in South African public holiday lists. Only a holiday falling on a Sunday moves to the following Monday. A Saturday holiday simply falls on the weekend and gives no extra day off.
How many public holidays does South Africa have?Toggle answer
Twelve public holidays are set out in the Public Holidays Act, plus any day declared a public holiday, which most notably includes polling day when an election is proclaimed.
Do I get paid for a public holiday I do not work?Toggle answer
Under the Basic Conditions of Employment Act an employee who does not work on a public holiday is entitled to the normal daily wage, and one who does work is entitled to at least double. Public holidays are not deducted from annual leave.
Where the numbers come from
- Public holidays in South Africa - gov.za
- Public Holidays Act 36 of 1994 - gov.za
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