This article provides information to help you plan your travels to South Africa by discovering when are the South African school holidays. Whether you want to know when the school holidays are to visit your South African family and friends or whether you want to avoid the school holidays in South Africa, the information in this post will help you plan the dates for your trip to South Africa. To help you even more, we have included information about the term times and national public holidays.
Why Must You Consider the South African School Holidays in Your Planning?
South Africans love exploring their country throughout the year, especially during the school holidays with the whole family. During the school holidays, accommodation and activities may be less readily available and, as with all things with a low supply and high demand, may become much more expensive. In addition, traffic on the main highways may become congested, especially between Johannesburg and Cape Town and between Johannesburg and Durban. Accidents may occur more frequently. Car rentals may be in short supply as many South Africans may fly between the major cities and then rent a car for the duration of their holiday.
The busiest school holidays in South Africa are Easter weekend and Christmas holidays. The longest school holiday in South Africa, for both public and private schools, is from approximately the second week of December to the middle-January holiday.
Read here about the best time to travel in South Africa.
When are the South African School Holidays? The South African School Calendar
The South African school year starts in January and ends in December. There are no universal term dates in South Africa. South African schools are divided into public and private schools. Different principles apply to schools in these two categories.
The South African Public School Terms
Public schools in South Africa’s nine provinces, including the Eastern Cape Province, Free State Province, Western Cape Province, Mpumalanga, Limpopo, Gauteng, the Northern Cape Province and North-West Province, all follow the Department of Basic Education school holiday calendar, which consists of four terms.
Remember that these public school terms only apply to South African state schools. Pre-primary schools may have their own school terms and holidays.
Public school holidays in South Africa differ between the inland and coastal provinces’ clusters. The inland cluster includes the Free State Province, Gauteng, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and the North West Province. The coastal cluster includes the Eastern Cape Province, KwaZulu-Natal, the Northern Cape and the Western Cape Provinces.
2023 Public School Holiday Dates
School terms for the inland cluster:
| Term | Duration |
| 1 | 11 Jan – 24 Mar |
| 2 | 12 Apr – 23 Jun |
| 3 | 18 Jul – 29 Sept |
| 4 | 10 Oct – 13 Dec |
Coastal school terms:
| Term | Duration |
| 1 | 18 Jan – 31 Mar |
| 2 | 12 Apr – 23 Jun |
| 3 | 18 Jul – 29 Sept |
| 4 | 10 Oct – 13 Dec |
When are the South African School Holidays? 2024 Public School Holiday Dates
The Department of Basic Education has released the draft school terms for 2024 with no distinction between the inland and coastal cluster schools.
| Term | Duration |
| 1 | 17 Jan – 20 Mar |
| 2 | 3 Apr – 14 Jun |
| 3 | 9 Jul – 20 Sept |
| 4 | 1 Oct – 11 Dec |
The South African Private School Terms
The Calendar Committee of the ISASA Central Region (consisting of Gauteng, Free State, North West and Northern Cape) publishes a Central Region Calendar as a guideline for ISASA member schools for school terms. Most of the ISASA member schools follow this calendar. Still, they can choose their own school terms if they want.
However, private or independent schools in South Africa fall into two categories: those who follow the public school calendar or similar and those who don’t. The private schools that don’t follow the public school calendar tend to have three terms instead of four, with longer holidays. The independent schools following the public school calendar also have four terms, but their terms’ start and end dates may differ slightly from the public schools. There are also a few individual schools that may have their own specific calendars.
2023 Private School Holiday Dates
3-term schools holidays:
| Term | Duration |
| Mid-term | 25 Feb – 1 Mar |
| 1 | 14 Apr – 3 May |
| Mid-term | 24 Jun – 4 Jul |
| 2 | 5 Aug – 5 Sept |
| Mid-term | 20 Oct – 25 Oct |
| 3 | 8 Dec – 11 Jan |
4-term school holidays:
| Term | Duration |
| 1 | 18 Mar – 11 Apr |
| 2 | 25 June – 18 Jul |
| 3 | 24 Sept – 10 Oct |
| 4 | 8 Dec – 11 Jan |
2024 Private School Holiday Dates
There have been no published school terms for 2024.
Some of the fun activities for families to do in South Africa include:
* Interacting with elephants
* Visiting the Johannesburg Zoo
* Learning about crocodiles and reptiles
* Seeing beautiful birds at the Montecasino Bird Gardens
* Going up the mountain with the Hartbeespoort Cableway
South African Public holidays
South African school holidays typically cover many public holidays, especially those near Easter and during the festive season.
Apart from the school terms, schools may also have extra school holidays where there is a public holiday on a Tuesday or Thursday. When this happens, schools close on the Monday before or the Friday after the public holiday to make it a long weekend.
When a public holiday falls on a Sunday, the following Monday is a public holiday.
2023 Public Holidays in South Africa
Here is the 2023 South Africa’s national Public holidays calendar:
| Date | Public Holiday |
| 1 January | New Year’s Day |
| 2 January | Public Holiday |
| 20 March | School Holiday |
| 21 March | Human Rights Day |
| 7 April | Good Friday |
| 10 April | Family Day |
| 27 April | Freedom Day |
| 28 April | School Holiday |
| 1 May | Workers’ Day |
| 16 June | Youth Day |
| 8 August | School Holiday |
| 9 August | National Women’s Day |
| 24 September | Heritage Day |
| 25 September | Public Holiday |
| 16 December | Day of Reconciliation |
| 25 December | Christmas Day |
| 26 December | Day of Goodwill (known as Boxing Day in many other countries) |
Learn what South Africans eat on Christmas Day.
2024 Public Holidays in South Africa
Here is the 2024 South Africa’s national Public holidays calendar:
| Date | Public Holiday |
| 1 January | New Year’s Day |
| 21 March | Human Rights Day |
| 29 March | Good Friday |
| 1 April | Family Day |
| 27 April | Freedom Day |
| 1 May | Workers’ Day |
| 16 June | Youth Day |
| 17 June | Public Holiday |
| 9 August | National Women’s Day |
| 24 September | Heritage Day |
| 16 December | Day of Reconciliation |
| 25 December | Christmas Day |
| 26 December | Day of Goodwill (known as Boxing Day in many other countries) |
Import the South African School Holidays and Public Holidays to Your Calendar
Below, we’ve added links to the South African school holidays and public holidays calendars. These calendars can help you plan your holidays in South Africa.
You can download or import these calendars to your account to automatically receive updates to these calendars: