Family Day

Happy Family Day!

Happy what – ? Yes, today is another public holiday in South Africa – the tail end of the longest of our famous long weekends.

There’s not much to say about Family Day, except that it exasperates business owners no end, taking, as it does, a pretty arbitrary bite out of our national GDP. Ah well, what can you do except sleep in and then go to the beach?

• Practical note on SA public holidays: banks and post offices are closed, as are many shops; and trains, buses and minibus taxis run limited services. Traffic will also be fairly intense today, as holidaymakers scramble back at the last possible minute for work tomorrow.