The holidays just got a lot better in 2023.
To be quite frank, everyone has been thinking about a little extended vacation and this year that will actually be possible! In 2023, South Africa will have five long weekends which you can take advantage of.
Public Holidays in 2023
Even though South Africa will lose Reconciliation Day, on the 16th of December, which falls on a Saturday, there are plenty of holidays to go by in order to have a proper rest.
This year South Africa has already observed one of their two additional public holidays, which is New Year’s Day. The public holiday fell on a Sunday this year which means that Monday will be observed as a public holiday according to the Public Holidays Act.
The second holiday South Africans get to enjoy is Heritage Day which will be on a Sunday this year. That means the 25th of September will be a public holiday.
Since South Africa has a few holidays that will serve as long weekends, it will be pretty useful to see how you can make this work in your holiday calendar.
The public holidays for 2023 are as follows:
- Sunday, 1 January: New Year’s Day
- Monday, 2 January: Public holiday New Year’s Day observed
- Tuesday, 21 March: Human Rights Day
- Friday, 7 April: Good Friday
- Monday, 10 April: Family Day
- Thursday, 27 April: Freedom Day
- Monday, 1 May: Workers’ Day
- Friday, 16 June: Youth Day
- Wednesday, 9 August: National Women’s Day
- Sunday 24 September: Heritage Day
- Monday, 25 September: Public holiday Heritage Day observed
- Saturday, 16 December: Day of Reconciliation
- Monday, 25 December: Christmas Day
- Tuesday, 26 December: Day of Goodwill
How to use your days off
If you’re looking to get some extra days off, you are able to do so this year. For instance, since Human Rights Day, 21 March falls on a Tuesday, you could put in leave for the Monday which means you would have a total of five days off in the month.
In April, Freedom Day will fall on a Thursday, which means you can take leave on Friday to have a long weekend. This will be a total of four days you will have off. Additionally, Good Friday will be on a Friday while Family Day will be observed on Monday, which is an additional four days off.
Of course, taking leave should mean that you consider your employer as well, and taking off most of the month wouldn’t be very realistic. Since Easter Weekend is a total of four days off, you could settle for this in the month of April.
This August, Women’s Day will be on a Wednesday and if you’re able to, you can take leave on Monday and Tuesday to have a total of five days off.
So, the total amount of holiday days you can have in 2023 amounts to 18 days, so make sure to use it wisely!
Source: Good Things Guy