Deadline calculator and public holidays

South Africa’s public holidays

The Public Holidays Act sets twelve public holidays. When one falls on a Sunday, the Monday after it is a public holiday too.

South Africa's public holidays in Schedule 1 of the Public Holidays Act

Holiday	Date
New Year's Day	1 January
Human Rights Day	21 March
Good Friday	Friday before Easter Sunday
Family Day	Monday after Easter Sunday
Freedom Day	27 April
Workers' Day	1 May
Youth Day	16 June
National Women's Day	9 August
Heritage Day	24 September
Day of Reconciliation	16 December
Christmas Day	25 December
Day of Goodwill	26 December

The President can also declare extra public holidays, such as an election day. These are announced one at a time, so they aren’t in the calculator. Check gov.za for any declared for the year you need.

How the law counts days

When a law gives a number of days, the Interpretation Act says how to count them:

• Leave out the first day. Start counting from the day after the decision, the birth or whatever starts the period.
• Count every day after that, Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays included.
• Move a last day that falls on a Sunday or a public holiday. The deadline moves to the next day. If that day is also a Sunday or a public holiday, it moves again. The courts haven’t settled whether more days fall away in that case, so the calculator shows the earliest date.
• A Saturday stays. The law doesn’t move a deadline that falls on a Saturday, but many offices are closed, so act by the Friday before.

A law can set its own way of counting, and then that applies instead.

The deadlines in the calculator

• Appeal a SASSA grant decision: within 90 days of the date SASSA made the decision, not the day you heard about it. The Independent Tribunal can accept a late appeal if you explain why it is late. See how to appeal in the older persons grant guide or the child support grant guide.
• Register a birth: within 30 days after the birth. After that, it is a late registration with more documents. See how to register a birth.
• Claim UIF after your job ended: within 12 months of the end of your employment. The law only says that a month is a calendar month, so the calculator takes the safer reading: the day before the same date 12 months later. UIF can accept a late claim if you show good reason. See how to claim UIF.
• Your own deadline, in days: counted as above.
• Your own deadline, in business days: Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays are left out, as the National Credit Act and the Companies Act count them. Some rules count differently: SARS’s rules for tax disputes leave out more days, and the CCMA’s rules count calendar days but move a last day that falls on a Saturday too. Check the rules for your deadline. For a dismissal dispute, see how to refer an unfair dismissal to the CCMA.

What this tool can’t do

• It doesn’t know the extra days the President declares. If one falls on your last day, your real deadline is a day later, so the date here is never too late.
• It can’t tell you whether a deadline applies to you, or whether an office will accept something late. Ask the office that set the deadline.
• Don’t leave it to the last day: offices can be closed or busy, and online systems can go down.