Africa-Press – Eswatini. Emaswati could enjoy Tuesday, December 27 as a holiday in lieu of Christmas Day, which falls on a Sunday.
Communications Officer at the Ministry of Home Affairs, Mlandvo Dlamini, explained that in terms of the Holidays Act, when a holiday is on a Sunday, it automatically gets enjoyed the following day – Monday.
However, due to the fact that Monday (December 26) would also be an official holiday (Boxing Day), the decision as to whether it would be enjoyed on Tuesday would be determined by the appropriate authorities.
Dlamini said the decision to declare Tuesday a holiday would have to be deliberated upon by authorities because the Act does not stipulate what happens in the case Monday is also an official holiday.
“We will issue a statement probably on Monday when the issue has been deliberated upon and finalised,” Dlamini said.
South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa, announced that Eswatini’s major trading partner would enjoy Tuesday, December 27, as a public holiday in lieu of Christmas Day falling on a Sunday.
This follows a declaration to this effect by the president in terms of Section 2A of the Public Holidays Act (Act No 36 of 1994).
In terms of the 2022 annual calendar, Christmas Day, December 25, falls on a Sunday.
Section 2(1) of the Public Holidays Act provides that “whenever a public holiday falls on a Sunday, the following Monday shall be a public holiday”.
In this instance, the Monday following December 25 is another public holiday, Day of Goodwill.
If the holiday of Sunday (December 25) were to be moved to Monday, this would cancel the holiday of December 26 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 view of the unique circumstances around the 2022 calendar, and to uphold relevant labour law principles and practices, President Ramaphosa declared Tuesday, December 27, as a public holiday in lieu of Christmas Day.
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