MyJHB

Stuff from Johannesburg

Is Your Building Hijacked?

City Power will continue its intensive revenue collection drive today, Wednesday, 23 September 2026, with a targeted operation against five suspected hijacked buildings in the Johannesburg Inner City.

The operation will target properties with outstanding electricity accounts, with the five buildings collectively owing approximately R5 million. City Power will disconnect the properties for non-payment as part of its ongoing efforts to improve revenue collection and address long-standing debt.

City Power’s revenue collection operations are aimed at ensuring that customers settle their outstanding accounts, enabling the entity to recover the revenue required to support electricity infrastructure investment, maintenance and the continued provision of reliable electricity services.

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The Oriental Plaza: Architecture

Architecturally, the Plaza is a sprawling 17-hectare complex consisting of North and South malls linked by a three-story circular “Grand Bazaar.” But the true magic is in the sensory experience. Walking through the Plaza is an assault of colors and smells: rolls of exotic sari fabrics stacked to the ceiling, the scent of high-quality leather from shoe-repair stalls, and the aroma of toasted spices. It is a place where “bargaining” is an art form—unlike the fixed prices of Sandton, here you engage directly with the owner, often a third-generation merchant whose family was moved from Fietas fifty years ago.

The cultural heart of the Plaza is undoubtedly its food, specifically the legendary World of Samoosas. This small stall has become a local institution, famous for its unique sweet coconut samoosas and its “Nelson Mandela approved” status (the former president was a fan). Near the south entrance, you’ll find a blue heritage plaque marking Red Square. Long before the Plaza was built, this was an open square where the ANC and Communist Party held mass rallies, and where the Defiance Campaign was launched in 1952. The fact that a shopping mall now stands over this revolutionary ground is a poignant reminder of the city’s layered history. The Oriental Plaza didn’t just survive Apartheid; it outlasted the system that tried to use it as a cage, becoming a symbol of the “tenacity and trading ability” that defines the Johannesburg spirit.