September 13, 2002
By Lucille Davie
IT'S the only shopping centre in the country in which each shopkeeper owns his shop.
It's the colourful and busy Oriental Plaza.
The Plaza, one kilometre west of the city centre, opened in the mid-1970s in Fordsburg. It
was a direct outcome of apartheid's grand separation schemes. Shopkeepers and their
goods were relocated from nearby Vrededorp and Pageview, and offered space at the Plaza.
Here they bought their new shops. Today they pay a levy to a body corporate, which manages
the complex, much like the management of time shares or blocks of flats.
It was decided in the sixties that the neighbouring areas, known to the residents as
“Fietas”, primarily Indian and Coloured areas, were to be flattened and
redeveloped as white areas. Most residents were moved to Lenasia and Eldorado Park, some
30 kilometres out of town.
Fietas was a vibrant, multi-cultural suburb of several thousands people, settled in the
early 1900s. Its 14th Street was a hubbub of shops selling everything from tin pots to
tailored suits, with shopkeepers and their families living above their stores. The
shopkeepers of 14th Street were relocated to the Oriental Plaza.
The complex covers 17 hectares and consists of three sections – a north and south
uncovered section of sprawling single-storey shops, linked by a three-storey circular
shopping area called the grand bazaar, decorated with festive yellow and pink drapes and
large coloured lanterns.
The 360 shops are full of bargains; their contents spill out of the shops - rolls of
fabric are stacked around the doors and on tables outside the shops, there are tables of
pots and pans and crockery, small kiosks of hair accessories gleaming in the sun, samoosa
and chilli bite stalls, and hundreds of straw baskets of all shapes and sizes.
The complex attracts 1-million shoppers each month. People travel from all over Gauteng to
shop at the Plaza. You can buy anything from a teaspoon to a button to gold jewellery, and
most of the products are locally manufactured, with only 10% of items imported.
But it wasn't always so busy. In the first years after the move business was very
quiet. “It was a new concept, one of the first shopping centres in the
country,” says Ahmed Bobat, chairman of the body corporate of the Plaza.
But, says Bobat, after an initial jockeying with some businesses being bought out by
others, the general attitude of “We're here to stay and have nowhere else to
go, so let's make the best of this place”, prevailed, and business started
picking up. In the Eighties the Plaza took off and became one of Johannesburg's most
popular shopping areas, particularly for fabric and curtaining.
The Nineties saw a drop in business as corporates moved out of the city centre, taking
customers with them. But this decade also saw its customer base expand north – some
25% of customers are from southern Africa.
A more aggressive advertising strategy – on radio particularly – has helped
spread the word. The centre is now an established tourist attraction and was listed as one
of stops on tours for the recent World Summit on Sustainable Development.
Management is proud of their security record. “It is the safest shopping centre in
the country – no cars have been stolen from the parking area in the last two
years,” says Bobat proudly. It has a vast parking space, patrolled by some 40
in-house security guards. There are 60 guards patrolling inside the complex.
The Plaza has become known as the place to shop for specific functions. “We have
customers who shop all over for their son's barmitzvah, and eventually come here and
get exactly what they want. We are also the first stop for matric dance outfits.”
One of the Plaza's most famous recent customers was Graca Machel, wife of former
president Nelson Mandela, who came to the complex to shop for her daughter's
wedding.
The centre now has promotions at different times of the year. At the moment a shopping
festival is on the go, with almost all stores offering discounts of up to 40%. Other
promotions are: a bargain bonanza, the great fabric fair, and a “Follow the wise
this season” shopping spree at Christmas. An annual carnival is held, with balloons,
face painting and traditional dance to keep customers entertained.
The Plaza business community, which includes whites, Chinese and Pakistanis these days, is
aware of poverty in the surrounding area. A social responsibility programme has owners
donating blankets to the local homeless.
The neighbouring suburb of Newtown is enjoying huge investment in its rejuvenation, but
most of this planning stops just 20 metres from Fordsburg, says Bobat. The new Nelson
Mandela Bridge between Newtown and Braamfontein is rapidly growing, and it is hoped that
it, together with the new freeway offramp into Carr Street, will bring new business to
Fordsburg and the Plaza.
”Fordsburg needs proper street lighting and upgraded streets, and policing needs to
moves further west into the area,” says Bobat.
New housing in the area has brought more people into the suburb, all potential customers
for the Plaza.
Bobat reflects that if the City of Johannesburg wants to get people back into the city, it
should use the Oriental Plaza as “a gateway to the inner city”.
So, if you love haggling and enjoy going home with armfuls of bargains, dig into
Moosa's Sales Room, Curtains for Africa, Zsa Zsa, Bombay Bazaar, Hawkers Welcome, or
Help My Krap. And when you've got your energy back, there are plenty more stores to
explore.
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