The Federation of Unions of SA (Fedusa) issued a press release on Thursday announcing that it had successfully petitioned the Presidency to declare 27 December a paid public holiday.

Some months ago, the federation requested President Cyril Ramaphosa to review the December holidays calendar after realising that Christmas Day was on a Sunday, while Day of Goodwill was on a Monday. In the absence of any decision, this would have seen South African workers losing out on a paid holiday as 27 December would have been an ordinary working day. The Act stipulates that whenever any public holiday falls on a Sunday, the Monday following it shall be a public holiday. This means that Christmas Day's holiday is on Monday the 26th, which is already a holiday, meaning that workers would have been denied an extra day on 27 December. “Fedusa is pleased that President Ramaphosa has heeded the workers' pleas, further giving us comfort about his commitment to the yet-to-be-realised social compact. As a federation that believes in consultative processes, the decision could not have come at a better time following weeks of discussions with the President's office over the matter,” the federation stated.

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