diff --git a/src/lib/metrics/holidays.ts b/src/lib/metrics/holidays.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5364dec
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/lib/metrics/holidays.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+/**
+ * South African public holidays, as an explicit table.
+ *
+ * Computing the Easter-derived dates was considered and rejected. A table is
+ * auditable at a glance, and its failure mode is one visibly odd day that
+ * someone notices — whereas a wrong Easter algorithm produces a
+ * plausible-looking systematic drift that nobody catches.
+ *
+ * Includes Monday observances: South African law moves a public holiday that
+ * falls on a Sunday to the following Monday. Those Mondays are listed here
+ * explicitly rather than derived, for the same reason.
+ *
+ * Verified against the developer's hand-built build log: 24 May → 8 Sep 2026
+ * gives 108 calendar days and 75 workdays with this table.
+ *
+ * EXTEND THIS before a project spans a year that is not listed.
+ */
+export const SA_HOLIDAYS: readonly string[] = [
+  // 2024 — Easter Sunday 31 Mar
+  "2024-01-01", "2024-03-21", "2024-03-29", "2024-04-01", "2024-04-27",
+  "2024-05-01", "2024-06-16", "2024-06-17", "2024-08-09", "2024-09-24",
+  "2024-12-16", "2024-12-25", "2024-12-26",
+
+  // 2025 — Easter Sunday 20 Apr
+  "2025-01-01", "2025-03-21", "2025-04-18", "2025-04-21", "2025-04-27",
+  "2025-04-28", "2025-05-01", "2025-06-16", "2025-08-09", "2025-09-24",
+  "2025-12-16", "2025-12-25", "2025-12-26",
+
+  // 2026 — Easter Sunday 5 Apr. Women's Day falls on Sunday 9 Aug,
+  // so Monday 10 Aug is observed.
+  "2026-01-01", "2026-03-21", "2026-04-03", "2026-04-06", "2026-04-27",
+  "2026-05-01", "2026-06-16", "2026-08-09", "2026-08-10", "2026-09-24",
+  "2026-12-16", "2026-12-25", "2026-12-26",
+
+  // 2027 — Easter Sunday 28 Mar. Human Rights Day falls on Sunday 21 Mar,
+  // so Monday 22 Mar is observed. Boxing Day falls on Sunday 26 Dec,
+  // so Monday 27 Dec is observed.
+  "2027-01-01", "2027-03-21", "2027-03-22", "2027-03-26", "2027-03-29",
+  "2027-04-27", "2027-05-01", "2027-06-16", "2027-08-09", "2027-09-24",
+  "2027-12-16", "2027-12-25", "2027-12-26", "2027-12-27",
+
+  // 2028 — Easter Sunday 16 Apr. New Year falls on Saturday; Workers' Day
+  // on Monday.
+  "2028-01-01", "2028-03-21", "2028-04-14", "2028-04-17", "2028-04-27",
+  "2028-05-01", "2028-06-16", "2028-08-09", "2028-09-24", "2028-12-16",
+  "2028-12-25", "2028-12-26",
+];
+
+const HOLIDAY_SET = new Set(SA_HOLIDAYS);
+
+export function isPublicHoliday(isoDate: string): boolean {
+  return HOLIDAY_SET.has(isoDate);
+}
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diff --git a/src/lib/metrics/workdays.test.ts b/src/lib/metrics/workdays.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f458f41
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/lib/metrics/workdays.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+import { describe, it, expect } from "vitest";
+import { SA_HOLIDAYS } from "@/lib/metrics/holidays";
+import { countWorkdays, isWorkday, countCalendarDays } from "@/lib/metrics/workdays";
+
+describe("countCalendarDays", () => {
+  it("counts both endpoints", () => {
+    expect(countCalendarDays("2026-09-01", "2026-09-01")).toBe(1);
+    expect(countCalendarDays("2026-09-01", "2026-09-03")).toBe(3);
+  });
+
+  it("returns 0 when the range is inverted", () => {
+    expect(countCalendarDays("2026-09-03", "2026-09-01")).toBe(0);
+  });
+});
+
+describe("isWorkday", () => {
+  it("excludes weekends", () => {
+    expect(isWorkday("2026-09-12")).toBe(false); // Saturday
+    expect(isWorkday("2026-09-13")).toBe(false); // Sunday
+    expect(isWorkday("2026-09-14")).toBe(true); // Monday
+  });
+
+  it("excludes a public holiday that falls on a weekday", () => {
+    expect(isWorkday("2026-06-16")).toBe(false); // Youth Day, a Tuesday
+  });
+
+  it("excludes the Monday after a Sunday holiday", () => {
+    // South African law moves a Sunday public holiday to the Monday.
+    // Women's Day 2026 is Sunday 9 August, so Monday 10 August is a holiday.
+    expect(isWorkday("2026-08-10")).toBe(false);
+    expect(isWorkday("2026-08-11")).toBe(true);
+  });
+});
+
+describe("countWorkdays — reproduces the Hermes build log", () => {
+  it("gives 108 calendar days and 75 workdays for 24 May to 8 Sep 2026", () => {
+    // These are the exact figures from the developer's hand-built log. If this
+    // test fails, either the holiday table or the counting drifted, and every
+    // "active X of Y workdays" figure on the dashboard is wrong.
+    expect(countCalendarDays("2026-05-24", "2026-09-08")).toBe(108);
+    expect(countWorkdays("2026-05-24", "2026-09-08")).toBe(75);
+  });
+});
+
+describe("SA_HOLIDAYS", () => {
+  it("covers every year a project might span", () => {
+    for (const year of [2024, 2025, 2026, 2027, 2028]) {
+      const inYear = SA_HOLIDAYS.filter((d) => d.startsWith(String(year)));
+      // Twelve statutory days, plus any Monday observances.
+      expect(inYear.length).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(12);
+    }
+  });
+
+  it("has the Easter-derived dates right", () => {
+    // Easter Sunday: 2025-04-20, 2026-04-05, 2027-03-28.
+    expect(SA_HOLIDAYS).toContain("2025-04-18"); // Good Friday
+    expect(SA_HOLIDAYS).toContain("2025-04-21"); // Family Day
+    expect(SA_HOLIDAYS).toContain("2026-04-03");
+    expect(SA_HOLIDAYS).toContain("2026-04-06");
+    expect(SA_HOLIDAYS).toContain("2027-03-26");
+    expect(SA_HOLIDAYS).toContain("2027-03-29");
+  });
+
+  it("is sorted and free of duplicates", () => {
+    const sorted = [...SA_HOLIDAYS].sort();
+    expect(SA_HOLIDAYS).toEqual(sorted);
+    expect(new Set(SA_HOLIDAYS).size).toBe(SA_HOLIDAYS.length);
+  });
+});
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/lib/metrics/workdays.ts b/src/lib/metrics/workdays.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9257ee7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/lib/metrics/workdays.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+/**
+ * Workday counting.
+ *
+ * The dashboard leads with active days as a fraction of WORKDAYS, not calendar
+ * days. "60 of 75 workdays" and "60 of 108 calendar days" describe the same
+ * three months; the second implies absence where there was a weekend. The
+ * first is the honest framing, and it is the strongest idea in the developer's
+ * original build log.
+ *
+ * All arithmetic is UTC on plain YYYY-MM-DD strings. Local time would make the
+ * figures shift with the reader's timezone, which is indefensible on a page a
+ * client is questioning.
+ */
+
+import { isPublicHoliday } from "@/lib/metrics/holidays";
+
+const DAY_MS = 86_400_000;
+
+function toUtc(isoDate: string): number {
+  return Date.UTC(
+    Number(isoDate.slice(0, 4)),
+    Number(isoDate.slice(5, 7)) - 1,
+    Number(isoDate.slice(8, 10))
+  );
+}
+
+export function toIsoDate(value: Date | number): string {
+  return new Date(value).toISOString().slice(0, 10);
+}
+
+/** Inclusive of both endpoints. 0 when the range is inverted. */
+export function countCalendarDays(from: string, to: string): number {
+  const days = Math.round((toUtc(to) - toUtc(from)) / DAY_MS) + 1;
+  return days > 0 ? days : 0;
+}
+
+export function isWorkday(isoDate: string): boolean {
+  const day = new Date(toUtc(isoDate)).getUTCDay();
+  if (day === 0 || day === 6) return false;
+  return !isPublicHoliday(isoDate);
+}
+
+/** Weekdays in the inclusive range, excluding public holidays. */
+export function countWorkdays(from: string, to: string): number {
+  const start = toUtc(from);
+  const end = toUtc(to);
+  if (end < start) return 0;
+
+  let count = 0;
+  for (let t = start; t <= end; t += DAY_MS) {
+    if (isWorkday(toIsoDate(t))) count += 1;
+  }
+  return count;
+}
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