President Cyril Ramaphosa has declared 27 December a public holiday due to the fact that Christmas Day falls on a Sunday.
Monday 26 December is celebrated as the Day of Goodwill and is already a public holiday.
Ramaphosa’s spokesperson Vincent Magwenya says the president declared the 27th a public holiday to uphold relevant labour law principles and practices.
"If the holiday of Sunday 25 December were to be moved to Monday 26 December, this would cancel the holiday of 26 December or cause the two holidays – which are part of 12 paid public holidays annually - to overlap.
"This would mean workers would only have 11 paid public holidays this year, while Section 5 of the Public Holidays Act provides that ‘every employee shall be entitled to at least the number of public holidays as provided for in this Act."
In 2016 President Jacob Zuma also declared 27 December a public holiday following a request by the Federation of Unions of South Africa.
