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Wednesday, September 23, 2026
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The South African·South Africa·Wednesday, September 23, 2026 at 11:28 AM

How many public holidays are left in South Africa in 2026?

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Alicia Naidoo

Heritage Day (24 September) is among us and unfortunately, this is one of the last public holidays before December. How many public holidays are left in 2026?

HOW MANY PUBLIC HOLIDAYS LEFT IN 2026?

South Africa has 12 official public holidays that were expected in 2026 according to the Public Holidays Act. As it stands today (23 September), nine public holidays have officially past. New Year’s Day kicked off the public holidays for the year on 1 January, followed by Human Rights Day on 21 March (which landed on a Saturday, so no bonus Monday off).

The Easter long weekend had Good Friday and Family Day on 3 and 6 April then in the same month, Freedom Day on 27 April. Many made this an extra long weekend as Workers’ Day was on 1 May. Youth Day on 16 June, and National Women’s Day on 9 August, which fell on a Sunday. So, Monday 10 August was observed as a public holiday too.

So how many public holidays left for 2026?

  • Heritage Day: Thursday, 24 September.
  • Day of Reconciliation: Wednesday, 16 December.
  • Christmas Day: Friday, 25 December.
  • Day of Goodwill falls on Saturday 26 December. Unfortunately workers won’t get an extra day off as this falls on a Saturday this year.
  • There is also an “extra” public holiday for this year. President Cyril Ramaphosa has officially declared Wednesday, 4 November an additional public holiday for South Africa, giving voters the day off to take part in the country’s local government elections.

This means that there area a total of five public holidays left for this year.

The declaration follows the formal gazetting and proclamation of 4 November 2026 as the election date by Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Velenkosini Hlabisa in August 2026. Ramaphosa first announced the election date on 30 April 2026, at the Birchwood Hotel in Boksburg, during discussions at the Extended Presidential Coordinating Council meeting.

At the time, he stated that as the local government elections were due in 2026, the date “should be held on a Wednesday, which is the middle of the week,” settling on 4 November 2026.

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