South Africa public holidays 2026

The year's first holiday is New Year's Day on Thursday 1 January; the last is Day of Goodwill on Saturday 26 December. Today's status and a countdown to the next holiday are on the South Africa holidays page. Other years: 2027.

Long weekends in 2026

• 4 days: Friday 3 April – Monday 6 April (Good Friday, Family Day)
• 3 days: Saturday 25 April – Monday 27 April (Freedom Day)
• 3 days: Friday 1 May – Sunday 3 May (Workers' Day)
• 3 days: Saturday 8 August – Monday 10 August (National Women's Day)
• 3 days: Friday 25 December – Sunday 27 December (Christmas Day, Day of Goodwill)

Bridge days

Taking one working day off turns these into longer breaks:

• Take Friday 2 January off → 4 days, Thursday 1 January – Sunday 4 January (New Year's Day)
• Take Monday 15 June off → 4 days, Saturday 13 June – Tuesday 16 June (Youth Day)
• Take Friday 25 September off → 4 days, Thursday 24 September – Sunday 27 September (Heritage Day)

Counted with Saturday and Sunday as the weekend and only the national holidays listed here; regional holidays can make more breaks.

Sources

• South African Government — Public holidays — official list to confirm dates (checked 2026-10-10)
• vacanza/holidays (open-source holiday rules, MIT licence) — holiday rules used to build the lists (checked 2026-10-10)

For reference only — governments can add, move or cancel holidays at short notice. Confirm with the official source: South African Government — Public holidays. Data: the open-source holidays library (MIT), spot-checked against official 2026 calendars.