Boxing Day

Boxing Day is the fixed public holiday immediately after Christmas. It entered Lesotho’s current calendar after the original 1995 schedule and is attributed to the 2003 public-holidays amendment. The English name reflects a broader British-derived calendar, while Lesotho News Agency has recorded the local description “Offering Day” in public discussion about gifts, generosity and Christian responsibility.

The day is not a second Christmas with a prescribed national ceremony. Some households continue visits and meals, some churches or associations undertake charitable work, and others use it for rest, travel or commerce. Describing one interview or church initiative as an ancient or universal Basotho tradition would overstate the evidence.

Boxing Day is treated as a nationwide public holiday under the Public Holidays Act 1995 as amended and Lesotho’s current official calendars. Section 3 permits the King, acting on ministerial advice, to appoint an additional day only by Gazette notice. The Act has no automatic Saturday-or-Sunday substitution rule: section 5 concerns negotiable instruments, not replacement leave. Under section 185 of the Labour Act 2024, a worker whose normal workday is the holiday receives a paid day off; holiday work attracts double pay, or by agreement normal pay plus a paid working day off in lieu.