South Africans - which non-religious public holidays mean the most to you and why?

Question

Some examples:

27 April - Freedom day
16 June - Youth day (sometimes called Soweto or Sharpeville day)
09 August - Women's day (we just had the 50th anniversary)
24 September - Heritage day
16 December - Day of Reconciliation

Answer 1

9 August-Women's Day! it is just a day to rejoice how much we have accomplished since that day 50 years ago.it gives me some pride of being a woman and knowing that although i might be young, i can say that i too have accomplished much in my life, which might have been impossible if it was not for those women who stood up for their rights those 50 years ago.

Answer 2

I'm not sure if Sharpeville Day on March 21st is a public holiday, but it is a day I think should be remembered. The massacre at Sharpeville is of great significance in the struggle against Apartheid, don't you think? The world stood up and took notice. Sad that people had to die for the world to realize what was going on in SA at the time.

When one is so far away from SA, you tend to forget all these holidays. I even forgot about Mother's Day and some of my family's birthdays. But Sharpeville Day is one day I won't forget, because it was remembered by so many people when I was at school. And my friends back then were really emotional about it.

Answer 3

I actually have two Public Holidays that mean most to me.

1. FREEDOM DAY: It celebrates freedom and commemorates the first democratic post-apartheid elections. Held in 1994, they saw Nelson Mandela elected as President. (27/04)

2. HUMAN RIGHTS DAY: This holiday is an aim to respect human rights, promote the protection, development and attainment of human rights, and to monitor and assess the observance of human rights in SA. The SAHRC was launched on 21 March 1996, 35 years after the fateful events of 21 March 1960 when demonstrators were gunned down by police:

Kim

Answer 4

27 April and 16 December.
Though 16 December used to be a religious holiday, called in Afrikaans "Geloftedag". It was to remember a pact made between God and the Voortrekkers before the battle of Blood River.

Very interesting, I added a link for you. Don't you just love Wikipedia! :-)

Answer 5

any public holiday that falls on a monday or friday because then I have a long weekend.

Looking at the above names a line out of a song comes to mind "Everything is political, its so f-king political".

I wonder if we will ever have dead policeman's day, or HIV/Aids day or fraud and corruption day... you know so that people can actually start fighting the real problems in this country instead of living in the past....pfft

Answer 6

New Year's day of course! It's non-religious, non-sexist, apolitical... a fun day!

Answer 7

for me...it would have to be Freedom Day...I dunno, maybe it's because it seems like such a memorable day!!