Union scores win for South Africans as Zuma declares December 27 a public holiday

President Jacob Zuma has declared 27 December 2016 a public holiday‚ thanks to the eagle eyes of trade unionists.

The presidency explained in a statement on Monday: "The President has declared the date as a public holiday following a request by the Federation of Unions of South Africa (Fedusa)".

The request by Fedusa was motivated by the fact this year workers in the country will only have 11 public holidays instead of 12 due to fact that the 25th of December (Christmas Day) falls on a Sunday. According to a section of the Public Holidays Act‚ “whenever a public holiday falls on a Sunday‚ the following Monday shall be a public holiday”. However‚ this year the Monday following the 25th of December 2016 is another public holiday‚ being 26 December 2016‚ Day of Goodwill.

This has resulted in the two public holidays overlapping.

The presidency said: "The declaration of the 27th December as a public holiday will ensure that workers are not unduly disadvantaged because of this unusual event and are still entitled to their 12 paid public holidays".