Hearings in Cape Town would be held on Thursday. Hearings were scheduled in the North West, Eastern Cape, Mpumalanga, Northern Cape and Limpopo for next month.

They are being held by the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities.

It has already consulted residents in Gauteng, the Free State and KwaZulu-Natal on possible revisions of the Public Holidays Act.

The commission said in a statement: "[We] have been receiving a number of complaints [regarding] the bias and unfair schedule of [the] Public Holidays Act.

"The focal point of the complaints and requests is that the act should not only cater for the Christian religious (sic)."

Suggestions received so far included the introduction of an African calendar, the scrapping of all religious holidays and the introduction of two more general holidays.

Other religious holidays could also be included on the calendar.

The number of holidays could be reduced for economic purposes, the commission heard.