{"id":3896,"date":"2025-04-30T11:23:41","date_gmt":"2025-04-30T09:23:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/?p=3896"},"modified":"2026-03-12T10:40:50","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T08:40:50","slug":"government-confirms-friday-2-may-2025-is-a-normal-working-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/government-confirms-friday-2-may-2025-is-a-normal-working-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Government Confirms Friday, 2 May 2025 Is a Normal Working Day"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Despite Workers\u2019 Day falling on Thursday, 1 May 2025, the South African government has confirmed that Friday, 2 May, remains a normal working day. This clarification comes in response to a fake letter circulating on social media that falsely claimed President Cyril Ramaphosa had declared a national shutdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>ALSO READ: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/special-week-off-for-south-african-pupils-in-april-may-2025\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Special Week Off for South African Pupils in April\/May 2025<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-fake-national-shutdown-letter-debunked\">Fake National Shutdown Letter Debunked<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The viral letter, which claimed to be an \u201cofficial statement\u201d from the Presidency, called for a \u201cMarch &amp; Mass Movement for a National Shutdown\u201d on 2 May 2025. The document sparked confusion among South Africans, especially because it was shared widely in the days leading up to the long weekend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, government officials swiftly acted to shut down the rumour. They labelled the letter as fake, stating emphatically:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u201cThere is NO national shutdown planned! 2 May 2025 is a normal working day.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>The Presidency and the Department of Government Communication (GCIS) both denied the authenticity of the statement and urged citizens to verify any announcements using official government channels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"gaute-1319499860\" class=\"gaute-inbetween-content gaute-entity-placement\" style=\"margin-top: 30px;margin-bottom: 30px;margin-left: auto;margin-right: auto;text-align: center;\"><div class=\"gaute-adlabel\">Advertisement<\/div><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1852772760112594\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display:block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1852772760112594\" \ndata-ad-slot=\"1819787043\" \ndata-ad-format=\"auto\" data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\n<script> \n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); \n<\/script>\n<\/div><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-go-to-work-on-friday-2-may-2025\">Go to Work on Friday, 2 May 2025<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p> <strong>1 May 2025 is<\/strong> <strong>Workers\u2019 Day<\/strong>, which is a public holiday in South Africa, the government made it clear that this does not extend to Friday. <strong>Citizens are expected to attend work as usual on 2 May.<\/strong> All sectors of the economy\u2014public and private\u2014will continue with regular business operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This clarification is important, especially given the <strong>recent cluster of public holidays in April and May<\/strong>, which includes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Good Friday<\/strong>: 18 April 2025<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Family Day<\/strong>: 21 April 2025<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Freedom Day<\/strong>: Sunday, 27 April 2025<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Freedom Day Observed<\/strong>: Monday, 28 April 2025<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Workers\u2019 Day<\/strong>: Thursday, 1 May 2025<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>These holidays have already resulted in several short work weeks. The government now wants to prevent additional disruption caused by misinformation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-schools-will-remain-closed-on-2-may-but-only-schools\">Schools Will Remain Closed on 2 May\u2014But Only Schools<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Though the broader public will continue to work on 2 May, the <strong>Department of Basic Education<\/strong> confirmed that public schools will be closed on that day. This extra school holiday aligns with the <strong>Public Holidays Act of 1994<\/strong>, which allows for special closures based on the structure of the holiday calendar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The special school holidays surrounding Workers\u2019 Day are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Tuesday, 29 April 2025<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Wednesday, 30 April 2025<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Friday, 2 May 2025<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>These closures are intended to provide consistency for learners and staff between the Freedom Day and Workers\u2019 Day holidays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s important to note, however, that <strong>this does not apply to other sectors<\/strong>\u2014offices, factories, retail stores, and other businesses are expected to operate normally on Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"gaute-3311242434\" class=\"gaute-inbetween-content gaute-entity-placement\" style=\"margin-top: 30px;margin-bottom: 30px;margin-left: auto;margin-right: auto;text-align: center;\"><div class=\"gaute-adlabel\">Advertisement<\/div><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1852772760112594\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display:block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1852772760112594\" \ndata-ad-slot=\"1819787043\" \ndata-ad-format=\"auto\" data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\n<script> \n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); \n<\/script>\n<\/div><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-government-urges-citizens-to-ignore-hoaxes\">Government Urges Citizens to Ignore Hoaxes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The government continues to warn the public against spreading misinformation, especially statements falsely attributed to the Presidency. Such fake news can cause unnecessary panic, confusion, and economic disruption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you&#8217;re unsure about any major government announcements, always consult trusted sources such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thepresidency.gov.za\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Presidency&#8217;s official website<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.education.gov.za\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Department of Basic Education<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Government social media accounts and news platforms<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-final-word-no-extra-holiday-on-2-may-2025\">Final Word: No Extra Holiday on 2 May 2025<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>To summarise:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Thursday, 1 May<\/strong> is Workers\u2019 Day\u2014a recognised public holiday.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Friday, 2 May,<\/strong> is a normal working day across South Africa.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Only public schools<\/strong> have been granted an additional holiday on 2 May.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The viral letter claiming a national shutdown on 2 May is fake and not endorsed by the South African government.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Stay informed, verify your sources, and enjoy the official public holidays without falling for online hoaxes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Despite Workers\u2019 Day falling on Thursday, 1 May 2025, the South African government has confirmed that Friday, 2 May, remains a normal working day. This clarification comes in response to a fake letter circulating on social media that falsely claimed President Cyril Ramaphosa had declared a national shutdown. ALSO READ: Special Week Off for South<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":3897,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_focus_keyword":"","rank_math_title":"","rank_math_description":"Despite Workers\u2019 Day falling on Thursday, 1 May 2025, the South African government has confirmed that Friday, 2 May, remains a normal working day. This...","footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[829],"class_list":{"0":"post-3896","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-fake-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3896","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3896"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3896\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3898,"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3896\/revisions\/3898"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3897"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3896"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3896"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3896"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}