By IOL

President Cyril Ramaphosa has declared December 15 a public holiday to celebrate the victory of the Springboks at the Rugby World Cup at the weekend.

Ramaphosa said he will not be able to declare the public holiday now in order to allow Matric students to write their exams.

The class of 2023 began their exams on Monday with over 720,000 students sitting for their final exam this year.

However, he said the public holiday should happen after Grade 12 learners are done writing.

Ramaphosa, who was addressing the nation on Monday, said he wanted to celebrate the achievements of all sporting codes that have been successful this year.

“I know that many of us want us to have a holiday now to celebrate. But we should all agree that we should give our matriculants time to focus on their exams and celebrate afterwards.

“In celebration of the Springboks’ momentous achievement and the achievements of all our other sports men and women – and as a tribute to the resolve of our united nation – I am declaring Friday the 15th of December 2023 as a public holiday. We declare this to be a day of hope, a day of celebration and unity. Our sports men and women have shown us what is possible. We will succeed and we will ensure that we leave no-one behind,” said Ramaphosa.

He said the celebration was not only for the rugby national team that beat New Zealand in France on Saturday.