SPLA Day

SPLA Day recalls May 16, 1983, when Sudanese government forces moved against mutinous southern soldiers of Battalion 105 at Bor's Malual-Chaat garrison. Related mutinies and clashes followed at Ayod, Pochalla, Pibor and other garrisons, and leaders regrouped to form the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army. The date is commonly presented as the start of the second Sudanese civil war, but the longer history includes the unravelling of the 1972 Addis Ababa settlement, disputes over southern autonomy and earlier armed and political resistance.

The SPLM/A became the principal armed and political party to the 2005 peace agreement and later governed independent South Sudan; the national army was renamed the South Sudan People's Defence Forces in 2018, while the holiday retained the historic SPLA name. Commemoration must not romanticise the war. Government forces and SPLA factions committed grave abuses against civilians, and the conflict killed and displaced people across many communities. The holiday can honour service and political struggle while also acknowledging civilian loss, factional violence and demands for accountability.

SPLA Day is a full public holiday in the Ministry of Labour calendar. Under section 61 of the Labour Act, an employee receives paid leave on a Ministry-declared holiday and, if required to work, either twice the regular hourly rate for the time worked or one paid compensatory day. Public holidays are observed on their calendar dates: the Act does not automatically transfer a Saturday or Sunday holiday to Monday, although the Ministry can declare an additional day by circular.