No public holiday for Women's Day this year...
This year, South Africans are falling short on public holidays because National Women's Day falls on a Saturday.
Who doesn't love a public holiday?
Sadly, National Women's Day drew the short straw for 2025 as it is on a Saturday, meaning South Africans will miss out on a public holiday this year.
South Africans enjoyed 13 public holidays in 2024, with election day on 29 May and Youth Day on a Sunday.
"South Africa’s Public Holidays Act ensures that when a public holiday lands on a Sunday, the following Monday is declared a holiday, offering workers an extra day off," reports Business Tech.
Sadly, the same does not apply to public holidays that fall on Saturdays, so we are losing out on a public holiday this Saturday.
This means South Africans have 12 standard public holidays, leaving us with just 11 weekday public holidays for 2025.
While this may leave some people sour over losing out one day, it has some benefits. Business Tech states, "Some in the business community may welcome the news, seeing fewer public holidays as a positive for economic output."
These realists believe that reducing public holidays relieves disruption in productivity, especially in industries that have to pause operations, such as manufacturing, mining, and logistics.
"Businesses must often pay higher wages for work done on these days, or absorb the hit of reduced output if operations pause entirely. A report from the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry estimated that each public holiday costs the economy billions in lost productivity," said Business Tech.
The same can be true for employers who cannot stop their operations and must pay their employees more for public holidays.
According to Section 18 of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA), if a public holiday falls on a day an employee typically works, the employer must pay them their usual wage if they take the day off.
However, if the employee decides to work that day, the employer must pay them double their normal wages, plus their actual work hours, whichever is greater.
All in all, there's a silver lining for those who choose to work or not.
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