The presidency has confirmed that Tuesday, December 27, will indeed be a public holiday, after South Africans inquired if it was true.
Presidency spokesperson Bongani Ngqulunga said the decision was informed by the fact that, this year, workers in the country would only have 11 public holidays, instead of 12, because December 25, Christmas Day, fell on a Sunday.
In a statement, Ngqulunga used the Public Holidays Act of 1994 to explain the reason.
"According to section 2(1) of the Public Holidays Act, 1994 '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," he 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."