Holiday hype: no day off on September 15th – Munhumutapa Day not a public holiday

CLAIM: Please note that, Monday 15 September is NOT a holiday.

SOURCE: Perm Sec Nick Mangwana

VERDICT: True

Holiday or no holiday? That is the question.

Some Zimbabweans have been wondering and asking if Monday 15 September is a public holiday or not. September 15 is President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s birthday.

Permanent Secretary in the information ministry sought to clarify this, posting on his X handle that, ‘For those who are inquiring, please note that, Monday 15 September is NOT a holiday. See you at work.’

However, some were not having this. Even to the extent of providing a community note showing that ‘The Herald which is a state owned newspaper stated in an article published on 1 September 2025 that 15 September 2025 is in fact a Public Holiday’. 

It is true that The Herald, indeed, published an article on 1 September claiming that, ‘The Government has announced the addition of a new public holiday, Munhumutapa Day, which is set to be celebrated on September 15. The announcement was made in terms of section 2(1) of the Public Holidays and Prohibition of Business Act [Chapter 10:21] through General Notice 954 of 2024.’

Early this year, various media publications also made similar claims that the Zimbabwe government had added Munhumutapa Day, set for 15 September,  to the country’s public holidays. 

Publications like Pindula, ZimEye and ZiMetro all claimed that, ‘The Zimbabwean Government has announced the addition of a new public holiday, Munhumutapa Day, which will be celebrated on the 15th of September 2025. This significant announcement was made in terms of Section 2(1) of the Public Holidays and Prohibition of Business Act [Chapter 10:21], through General Notice 954 of 2024’.

The claims were picked up by social media accounts here, here and here.

Some of the publications like iHarare attributed the claim to former cabinet minister and 2023 presidential candidate Saviour Kasukuwere.

Kasuwere posted, January 8, on X, ‘Public Holidays !!! Munhumutapa Day 15 September’.

He included an image showing a list of Zimbabwe’s public holidays. Neither the post nor the image give a source of the information. 

The other papers, like the Herald, were claiming that the new holiday was gazetted under General Notice 954 of 2024.

This is false.

General Notice 954 of 2024 was gazetted on June, 21, 2024. It does not have Munhumutapa Day as part of 2025 public holidays.

Conclusion

The claim by Mangwana that, ‘For those who are inquiring, please note that Monday 15 September is NOT a holiday. See you at work’ is true. Contrary to previous claims that 15 September is a public holiday, it is not. It remains just a celebration of President Mnangagwa’s birthday with various commemorations scheduled but it is not a public holiday. Interestingly, the Herald newspaper which just two weeks ago published an article claiming that 15 September is a public holiday, published another article on 11 September stating that, ‘The Government has reiterated that the Munhumutapa Day set for Monday, September 15, is not a public holiday. This clarification comes amidst misleading discussions and expectations surrounding the recognition of the day. Minister of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Kazembe Kazembe confirmed that the day is not a public holiday and there are no changes.’

However, the paper has not retracted the previous erroneous article.