Celebrating Easter in Africa the 1994 Public Holidays Act

South Africa has an almost 80% Black-African ethnic group and the majority of South Africans practice the Christian faith.

Many Christians in South Africa celebrate Jesus Christ's resurrection on Easter Sunday.

The Easter weekend in South Africa begins with Good Friday and closes with Family Day, more commonly known as Easter Monday, on Monday, April 6, 2015, this year. 

On December 7, 1994, Nelson Mandela and the African National Congress worked together to create The Public Holidays Act. In 1994, the South African Government renamed Easter Monday to Family Day to include all religions and the non-religious in the Rainbow Nation of South Africa. 

South Africa's homeland policy was dissolved in 1994 and all the homelands in the country were absorbed into South Africa.

The former Republics of Transkei, Bophuthatswana, Venda, and Ciskei were also known as homelands or Bantustans that were supposedly created to allow Black South Africans to govern themselves, but in reality, denied any opportunity to participate in South African politics by losing their South African citizenship.

Post-apartheid in 1994, South Africa has a government including all races and is often referred to as the rainbow nation which is a phrase coined by 1984 Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu. 

South Africa has an almost 80% Black-African ethnic group and the majority of South Africans practice the Christian faith; Protestant 36.6%, Catholic 7.1%, Muslim 1.5%, other Christian 36%, other 2.3%, unspecified 1.4%, non-religious 15.1%.

Did you know?
The Public Holidays Act of 1994 repealed the Public Holidays Act of 1976, of the former Republic of Transkei homeland, Public Holidays Act 1978 and 1979 of the former Republic of Bophuthatswana homeland, Public Holidays Act 1980 of the Republic of Venda homeland and Public Holidays Act 1981 of the former Republic of Ciskei homeland.