Commissioner Street is a major one-way street (westwards) in the

Central Business District A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a Megacity#List of megacities, megacity, and is List of urban areas by p ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

. It runs from the M31 to the R41, and is indicated as the R24. The

Carlton Centre The Carlton Centre is a 50-storey skyscraper and shopping centre located on Commissioner Street in central Johannesburg, South Africa. At , it is the third tallest building in Africa after The Leonardo, also in Johannesburg, and the Iconic ...

, the 2nd-tallest building in Africa (the tallest office building in Africa), is located on the street, as is the southern end of Newtown. There is little evidence of Commissioner Street's exact origin, although it is known that this street played a role in the development of Johannesburg.

History

Historical events

Commissioner Street has been an important street in Johannesburg since the 1800s and has seen many significant events throughout its history. * In 1886, it was declared that mining would be allowed in Johannesburg. Johannesburg's first chemist was opened soon after the announcement by a Mr. Heymann. The chemist was known as "Golden Mortar Dispensary". * In May 1896,

Carl Hertz Carl Hertz (May 14, 1859 – March 20, 1924) was an American magician. Biography He was born Louis or Leib Morgenstein in San Francisco. After becoming proficient in the art of magic, he toured America, Europe and Australia, which he had first ...

bought a projector from England and screened the first movie seen in South Africa at the Empire Palace of Varieties on Commissioner Street. This introduced South Africa to the age of the bioscope. * On 22 September 1941, Dr

Anton Rupert Anthony Edward Rupert (4 October 1916 – 18 January 2006) was a South African businessman, philanthropist, and conservationist. He was born and raised in the small town of Graaff-Reinet in the Eastern Cape. He studied in Pretoria and ultimate ...

started his first business, the Voorbrand Tobacco Company, in Commissioner Street. * In 1973, the

, Africa's tallest building opened on Commissioner Street. The building consisted of a hotel, shops and offices. The hotel closed down in 1997 due to

urban decay Urban decay (also known as urban rot, urban death or urban blight) is the sociological process by which a previously functioning city, or part of a city, falls into disrepair and decrepitude. There is no single process that leads to urban deca ...

Chinatown

Two

Chinatown A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Aust ...

s are located in the city of Johannesburg, the first Chinatown is located on Commissioner Street and the second is in the suburb of

Cyrildene Cyrildene () is a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa, predominantly home to Chinese people. The area is found east of the Johannesburg CBD and is surrounded by the suburbs of Linksfield, Observatory and Bruma. It is noted for a new Chinatown ...

. The last remaining shops and restaurants of Johannesburg's first Chinatown are located between buildings 5 and 17 on the western end of Commissioner Street. It was established in the early 20th century when the first Chinese immigrants settled west of Johannesburg and it is estimated that by 1904 there were 180 Chinese businesses operating in the Newtown area. This Chinatown hosts an annual

Chinese New Year Chinese New Year is the festival that celebrates the beginning of a new year on the traditional lunisolar and solar Chinese calendar. In Chinese and other East Asian cultures, the festival is commonly referred to as the Spring Festival () a ...

celebration on Commissioner Street. Since 1994, it has been affected by

and growing levels of crime, reducing its size. It is also getting smaller due to most of the descendants of the original immigrants now being 2nd and 3rd generation

South African Chinese Chinese South Africans () are Overseas Chinese who reside in South Africa, including those whose ancestors came to South Africa in the early 20th century until Chinese immigration was banned under the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1904. Chinese ind ...

who have started to spread out to do business in other parts of the city and country. Many of the original businesses have moved to other areas in Johannesburg or closed down. The "New Chinatown" established in Cyrildene consists mainly of recent Chinese immigrants.

Heritage sites

Due to its long history, a number of buildings on Commissioner Street have reached the requirements to be protected as national or provincial heritage sites.

Renaming

In February 2012, the

Premier of Gauteng The Premier of Gauteng is the head of government of the Gauteng province of South Africa. The current Premier of Gauteng is Panyaza Lesufi, a member of the African National Congress, who was elected on 6 October 2022, following the resignation ...

Nomvula Mokonyane Nomvula Paula Mokonyane (born 28 June 1963) is a South African politician who is currently the First Deputy Secretary-General of the African National Congress (ANC). She was the first female Premier of Gauteng from 2009 to 2014 and subsequentl ...

announced that a proposal to rename Commissioner Street had been brought before the Gauteng Geographical Names Committee. The proposal was to rename the street after

Apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

struggle leader and founding member of the

ANC Women's League The African National Congress Women's League (ANCWL) is an auxiliary women's political organization of the African National Congress (ANC) of South Africa. This organization has its precedent in the Bantu Women's League, and it oscillated from b ...

Albertina Sisulu Nontsikelelo Albertina Sisulu ( Thethiwe; 21 October 1918 – 2 June 2011) was a South African anti-apartheid activist, and the wife of fellow activist Walter Sisulu (1912–2003). She was affectionately known as "Ma Sisulu" throughout her li ...

. The family of Sisulu welcomed this proposal. As of 2019, the renaming has not yet happened. (only the parallel one-way street, also part of the R24 Route, going the other direction, previously called Market Street, has been renamed after Albertina Sisulu)

References

{{Africa Chinatown Streets and roads of Johannesburg