SA Rejects Cyril Ramaphosa’s 15 December Holiday To Celebrate Springboks' Winning Rugby World Cup

SA Rejects Cyril Ramaphosa’s 15 December Holiday To Celebrate Springboks' Winning Rugby World Cup

  • Cyril Ramaphosa declared that 15 December would be the holiday he promised if the Springboks won the World Cup
  • The president shared the reasons why he did not want the holiday to come immediately after the Springboks' victory over New Zealand
  • South Africans tossed the holiday to the side and grilled him not only for the date choice but for not dealing with service delivery issues

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Tebogo Mokwena, an experienced Briefly News current affairs journalist, contributed political coverage to Daily Sun and Vutivi News during his eight years in South Africa.

South Africans were given the holiday they were promised if the Springboks won the Rugby World Cup
President Cyril Ramaphosa announced 15 December as the holiday he promised. Image: Franck Fife/AFP via Getty Images and David Davies/PA Images via Getty Images
Source: Getty Images

President Cyril Ramaphosa's announcement that 15 December would be a public holiday celebrating the Springboks winning the World Cup was met with resistance and rejection. Ramaphosa announced at the country's latest family meeting on 30 October and declared the day before the 16th a holiday, an announcement which South Africans did not appreciate.

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Ramaphosa declares holiday date

Ramaphosa's announcement came after he promised the nation that should the Springboks win the World Cup, he would consider 29 October a public holiday. Since then, there have been calls for him to stick to his word. According to Eyewitness News, the country's first citizen announced that the holiday would be a day of hope, celebration, and unity. He also shared why he declared the holiday on 15 December and not in October or November.

Ramaphosa's reason for 15 December holiday

Ramaphosa stated that he wanted to give the matrics a chance to write their exams. This is because the matric examinations are currently underway, and he considered that having a holiday this month or next month would disturb the students' ability to focus on the examinations.

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Netizens refuse to accept the holiday

South Africans commenting on Facebook rejected his holiday and roasted the president of Mzansi.

Vincent Hlatshwayo said:

“This one is good in giving holidays while we are already on holiday.”

Mantini Walanga remarked:

“We are going to ask each other what it is for because we would have long forgotten that we have a World Cup on our shelves.”

Davey Wa Moruto wrote:

“This doesn’t change that we unseat him and the ANC next year.”

Kerlvinator Carlvino asked:

“So what exactly are we going to gain instead of dealing with the high petrol and food prices?”

Dikgang Legoase mused:

“These are the results of parachuting a CODESA billionaire into the president's office.”

Jojo Mashamaite exclaimed:

“I’m so angry at him. Now I have to go to work in this cold weather.”

80% of North West issues solved: Ramaphosa

In similar news, Briefly News reported that Cyril Ramaphosa announced that 80% of the North West's service delivery issues were solved.

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Springboks: Ramaphosa to address the nation, Mzansi demands public holiday

To prove his point, the president visited Ikageng after residents expressed concern that the service delivery was not improving. South Africans did not believe him and criticised him for trying to stay relevant.

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Source: Briefly News

Authors:
Tebogo Mokwena avatar

Tebogo Mokwena (Current Affairs editor) Tebogo Mokwena is a Current Affairs Editor at Briefly News. He has a Diploma in Journalism from ALISON. He joined Daily Sun, where he worked for 4 years covering politics, crime, entertainment, current affairs, policy, governance and art. He was also a sub-editor and journalist for Capricorn Post before joining Vutivi Business News in 2020, where he covered small business news policy and governance, analysis and profiles. He joined Briefly News in 2023. Tebogo passed a set of trainings by Google News Initiative Email: tebogo.mokwena@briefly.co.za