Johannesburg - The Federation of Unions of South Africa (Fedusa) has written to President Cyril Ramaphosa requesting he declares December 27 a public holiday this year.
The request comes as Christmas - which is celebrated on December 25, falls on a Sunday this year, and the following day, the Day of Reconciliation on December 26, are both public holidays.
This would mean that South African workers would enjoy one day less of their allotted 12 public holidays annually.
In December 2016, when a similar predicament was faced, former president Jacob Zuma did declare December 27 as a public holiday.
In a statement on Friday, the Fedusa leadership said it was alerted that workers would only enjoy 11 out of the 12 paid public holidays this year.
“The matter was raised that Christmas falls on a Sunday this year, and in terms of the Public Holidays Act, “whenever any public holiday falls on a Sunday, the following Monday shall be a public holiday.” “Consequently, Monday 26 December 2022, the Day of Goodwill, will then be deemed to fall outside of the ambit of the Public Holidays Act.
“Fedusa remains resolute that working South Africans should not be dealt with a further injustice to their income security, already eroded during Covid-19, and must therefore be able to enjoy their full 12 paid public holidays.
“The Federation believes that this gesture will go a long way in strengthening workers morale considering their difficulties faced, while boosting economic activity during the festive season. Fedusa believes that President Ramaphosa should seriously consider proclaiming 27 December 2022 as a paid public holiday,” the union said.
In 2016, Zuma had already declared December 27 a public holiday by this time of the year.
Zuma declared December 27 a public holiday on September 19, 2016.
“President Jacob Zuma has declared 27 December 2016 a public holiday throughout the Republic of South Africa, in terms of section 2A of the Public Holidays Act.
“The president has declared the date as a public holiday following a request by the Federation of Unions of South Africa.
“The request by Fedusa was motivated by the fact this year workers in the country will only have 11 public holidays instead of 12 due to fact that the 25th of December (Christmas Day) falls on a Sunday.
“According to section 2(1) of the Public Holidays Act, 1994 “whenever a public holiday falls on a Sunday, the following Monday shall be a public holiday”. However, this year the Monday following the 25th of December 2016 is another public holiday, being 26 December 2016, Day of Goodwill. This has resulted in the two public holidays overlapping.
“The declaration of the 27th 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,” the Presidency said at the time.
Should Ramaphosa declare December 27 as a public holiday?