How to update the 2026 South African public holidays calendar

How to import and update the 2026 South African public holidays calendar for the Leave module on Sage Payroll Professional.

Update your leave calendar with public holidays to calculate the leave days taken correctly.

You can manually update your calendar, or import the public holiday dates. The import lets you update the calendar for multiple companies. 

The leave calendar is available for Leave module users.

The South African 2026 public holidays:

• 1 January: New Year’s Day
• 21 March: Human Rights Day
• 3 April: Good Friday
• 6 April: Family Day
• 27 April: Freedom Day
• 1 May: Workers' Day
• 16 June: Youth Day
• 9 August: National Women’s Day
• 10 August: Public holiday National Women’s Day observed
• 24 September: Heritage Day
• 16 December: Day of Reconciliation
• 25 December: Christmas Day
• 26 December: Day of Goodwill

 NOTE: These dates are subject to change, so always refer to the official Government website for up-to-date information. 

Download the public holiday calendar

1. Download the South African public holiday .CSV import file for 2026.

 CAUTION: We've created the import file according to the published South African public holidays for 2026. 

Import the public holiday calendar

1. Access your payroll company.
2. From the Main Menu, select Leave, then Leave Calendar.
3. Select Copy Calendar.
4. Choose Import Calendar.
5. Type ‘2026’ under the Calendar Year.
6. Click Close.
7. Under ‘To Company’ select the companies to include.
8. Click Close to select.
9. Ensure that the ‘Selected’ column reflects as ‘Yes’, after entering the password.
10. Browse to the download location of your browser to locate the RSA2026.csv file and then Import.

Rebuild company data

1. After importing the RSA2026.csv file, exit the company.
2. Rebuild all data files: How to rebuild data files.

Review public calendar

1. Access each company where you imported the leave calendar.
2. From the main menu, go to Leave, then choose Calendar.
3. Review the public holiday dates.

 NOTE: You'll need to upload the leave calendar to Sage Self Service if you use this module: Upload a leave calendar to Sage Self Service. 

 

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