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South Africa, Heritage Day: September 24

Heritage Day is a Public Holiday celebrated in South Africa

Heritage Day, September 24, is a public holiday in which South Africans across the spectrum are encouraged to celebrate their cultural heritage and the diversity of their beliefs and traditions, in the wider context of a nation that belongs to all its people. People of South Africa celebrate this holiday with great enthusiasm and various cultural events are held all across the country.

Heritage Day is one of South Africa’s newly created public holidays and its significance rests in recognising aspects of South African culture which are both tangible and difficult to pin down: creative expression, historical inheritance, language, the food as well as the land.

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Youth Day: June 16

Youth Day is a public holiday celebrated in South Africa.

Youth Day has been celebrated in South Africa on June 16 since 1976 as a reaction to the series of clashes which happened in Soweto of South Africa. After the clashes, unofficial totals of between 200 and 600 dead are given despite the fact that the government claimed as few as only 23 people were killed. The people of South Africa started celebrating Youth Day in memory of all those innocent people who died during the clash.

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Day of Reconciliation: December 16

Day of Reconciliation is a public holiday in South Africa.

December 16 in South Africa used to have a different significance before 1994, coming into effect as Reconciliation Day after the end of apartheid. Today, Reconciliation Day is a day of reconciliation among South Africans, fostering unity between racial groups and focusing on forgiving others for conflicts of the country’s past.

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