An open round grill on three legs
In its own shop it is called “ACTIVA Rundgrill Johannesburg”, article number 10550NEU. The shop is operated by DACETO Trading GmbH in Selb. The Johannesburg is a charcoal grill without a lid: charcoal goes into the round bowl, the rack goes above it, and you grill directly over the embers.
In our charcoal grills category it is among the simplest devices. Our price box lists it at approx. €30 (Amazon page on 20 October 2026: €29.89); the price button shows the current status. In our comparison the Johannesburg gets 7.3 out of 10 points, the lowest rating among the four grills in the table further down.
What the photos show and what ACTIVA writes about it
The manufacturer’s shop has eleven product photos, and they say more about the construction than the description does. At the bottom there are three black legs. Two of them carry wheels, which are connected by an axle rod, and the third stands without a wheel. Between the legs there is a round shelf plate. Above it sits the round fire bowl, with a curved tubular handle screwed on at the side. Behind the rack rises a semicircular windshield with vertical slots punched into it. The main rack hangs there with its handle brackets. At the very top of the windshield sits a second, semicircular rack, the warming rack.
ACTIVA describes the main rack as chrome-plated and fitted with an edge guard that is meant to keep meat and vegetables on the rack. The warming rack appears in the Amazon title (“inkl. Warmhalterost”, i.e. warming rack included) and is clearly visible in the photos. In the manufacturer shop’s description, however, it is not mentioned at all. Amazon lists the colour as black.
The sources contradict each other on the material. The shop page speaks of alloy steel and promises a weather-resistant construction, while its info box only says steel in general. On Amazon, one text also says alloy steel, combined with the promise that the grill therefore stays “rust-free”. In another paragraph of the same listing, the device suddenly becomes a “stainless steel grill”.
These are two different statements. Any steel with added elements such as manganese, chromium or nickel is alloyed. It only becomes stainless from at least 10.5 per cent chromium, as laid down in the European standard EN 10088. Which grade is used in the bowl, legs and windshield is stated nowhere, and you cannot see it in a photo. We therefore do not assume it is a rust-free grill as long as ACTIVA does not document a grade.
The Amazon data give 53 × 53 × 84 cm. Whether that is the assembled grill or the box remains open; ACTIVA does not confirm the figure in any case. The info box in the manufacturer shop reports 60 × 40 × 90 cm, an odd footprint for a round grill. Exactly these values also appear there for the Augsburg, the Bavaria, the Saalfeld and the Hebefix. That does not look like a dimension someone measured on this grill.
In detail: controlling heat without a lid and without air vents
Over open charcoal, most of the heat reaches the food as radiation. It drops off markedly with distance from the embers, which is why a single rack height separates fierce searing from gentle cooking through. ACTIVA advertises exactly this: with the height-adjustable rack, the temperature can be regulated flexibly.
On the Johannesburg, adjusting means: grab the rack by the brackets, lift it out of the slots, and hang it back in one row higher or lower. Several rows of slots are visible in the photos, but how many heights that gives cannot be counted reliably from them. While the embers are burning, you are handling hot metal with grill gloves.
The second tool of many charcoal grills is missing here entirely. Neither in the photos nor in the texts does an air vent appear. More oxygen makes charcoal burn brighter, less slows it down, and without a vent the only thing left for you to adjust is the charcoal itself: how much you add and how you spread it. Pile one half of the bowl densely and the other thinly or leave it empty, and you have a hot zone and a milder zone under the same rack.
Without a lid there is no indirect cooking in the proper sense. Indirect means the food lies beside the embers and hot air under a hood cooks it from all sides. Without the hood, this air simply rises away. A whole pork neck or half a chicken over open embers will, as a rule, turn dark on the outside long before it is done inside. Sausages, belly slices, skewers, vegetables and thinner steaks, on the other hand, suit this design. How the two methods relate is explained in the guide Direct and indirect heat.
ACTIVA calls the fire bowl sturdy and says it should distribute heat evenly. Nobody we could cite has measured that. We read the sentence as an advertising promise.
The windshield only covers the back. If the wind comes from the front or the side, you realign the grill before lighting it, because you should never roll a hot grill around.
Is the Johannesburg enough for your grilling round?
This cannot be said reliably before buying, because ACTIVA publishes neither rack diameter nor grilling area. If you regularly grill for more than three people, we would go for a grill with a documented rack size.
Inferring the rack from the Amazon outer dimensions does not work. Even if the 53 cm refers to the assembled grill, that includes the tubular handle sticking out at the side, and the rack sits inside the bowl. So it is certainly smaller than 53 cm, but the photo does not reveal by how much.
What the manufacturers state for the alternatives: according to ACTIVA, the ACTIVA Augsburg has a round rack of Ø 39 cm, and the ACTIVA Säulengrill Pisa a rectangular one of 54 × 34 cm. Weber states 948 cm² of grilling area for the Smokey Joe Premium. The Augsburg’s circle works out at just under 1,195 cm², the Pisa’s rectangle at 1,836 cm². If the Johannesburg’s rack turns out similar to the Augsburg’s, then in our assessment it is enough for two to three people if you put food on in rounds. That remains an assumption.
When space is tight, the warming rack helps. What is done moves up to the windshield, and the area below is freed up for the next batch. Because it is only a semicircle, according to the photos it holds markedly less than the main rack.
Assembly, lighting, care: what is documented
ACTIVA writes that thanks to easy assembly the round grill is quickly set up and ready for immediate use. According to the shop, German assembly instructions are included. During our research they could not be found online, neither in German nor in Polish, nor in the Polish retailer directory where the Augsburg’s manual is held. Assembly time, tools and parts list therefore remain open.
This also means the manufacturer’s safety and care instructions are missing for exactly this model. We deliberately do not carry over the Augsburg’s manual, because the design and parts differ. What applies in principle to any open charcoal grill is not an ACTIVA statement, but it belongs here all the same. Grill only outdoors, never in a tent, caravan, garage or home, because smouldering charcoal releases carbon monoxide. For lighting, neither methylated spirits nor petrol come into question, only firelighters complying with DIN EN 1860-3 (the standard that applies in Germany and the EU). A hot grill stays put and is not left unattended. Dispose of ash only once it has cooled completely, and then in a metal container.
A chrome-plated rack has a thin chrome layer over steel wire. As long as it is intact, it protects the wire. Where a hard steel brush scrubs it through, rust can form underneath, so we would use a brush with brass bristles. Between seasons the Johannesburg belongs cold and dry in a cellar, garage or garden shed. If surface rust still appears on the bowl or legs, the guide Rusty grill: what to do? helps.
What ACTIVA leaves open
Neither the shop nor the Amazon catalogue reveals: rack diameter and grilling area, the number of height levels, size and material of the warming rack, the capacity of the charcoal bowl, the maximum load of the rack, sheet thickness and steel grade, whether there are ventilation openings, how the ash gets out of the bowl, a lid or cover hood as an accessory, reliable outer dimensions, a number of people, minimum distances to combustible materials, a statement on balcony use, and the country of origin.
These three alternatives are worth a look
| Model | The difference | Price | Our rating | Pick this one if |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ACTIVA Johannesburg (this one) | Wheels, shelf and warming rack, but no rack size | approx. €30 | 7.3 | you want an open grill with a shelf that you can roll |
| ACTIVA Augsburg | Rack Ø 39 cm in three heights, air vent, manual available | approx. €30 | 7.5 | documented dimensions matter more to you than wheels and a shelf |
| ACTIVA Säulengrill Pisa | larger rectangular rack, removable ash box | approx. €60 | 8.2 | you often grill for four or more people |
| Weber Smokey Joe Premium | enamelled bowl with lid, indirect cooking possible | approx. €112 | 8.1 | you also want to cook larger pieces under the lid |
The prices come from our price boxes and change constantly. The rating is our editorial assessment from the data comparison; we did not measure anything on any of the four grills.
When the Johannesburg, when another one
In our price box the Augsburg stands at approx. €30, just like the Johannesburg. For that money ACTIVA gives a rack size, three rack heights and a ventilation control on the column, and there is a manual with detailed safety instructions. In return, it has neither wheels, nor a shelf, nor a warming rack. If documented data in writing means more to you than a shelf for tongs and plates, it is the better choice in our comparison.
The Pisa costs approx. €60, the Johannesburg approx. €30. It has the larger rack from the calculation above, a ventilation control, its own warming rack and a removable ash box. The ash box in particular is an argument if you do not want to handle the whole bowl after grilling. However, no manual could be found for the Pisa either.
The biggest step up is the Weber Smokey Joe Premium at approx. €112 (on 21 October 2026 only from marketplace sellers on Amazon; Amazon itself did not offer it). According to Weber, the bowl and lid are made of porcelain-enamelled steel, and with the lid the open grill becomes a cooking chamber. That lets you cook chicken legs or a small roast, which would burn on the outside on the Johannesburg.
Our assessment of the Johannesburg itself: it is the grill for people who want sausages and vegetables over open embers for little money and who value a shelf under the bowl and two wheels for moving it. If you want to know the rack size before buying, you are better off with the Augsburg.
Who is it suited to?
ACTIVA itself names garden, terrace and camping as places of use. For the garden the design fits: with two wheels you roll the cold grill from the shed onto the lawn, and the shelf holds a charcoal bag or plates.
For camping it looks less good. Neither photos nor description show a transport lock or folding legs, so the Johannesburg travels assembled or taken apart again. The Weber Smokey Joe Premium, by contrast, has according to Weber a lid lock called Tuck-N-Carry, with which you carry it by the handle. For the boot of a car, we would rather go for a design like that.
The balcony is not on the manufacturer’s list. Whether charcoal is allowed there is decided by the tenancy agreement, house rules and the owners’ association, not ACTIVA. The guide Grilling on a balcony summarises what is usual.
The Johannesburg is the wrong choice for anyone who wants to smoke or cook low and slow, and for hosts who need to feed ten people at once. If you are still unsure whether you want charcoal at all, the Grill Finder helps with the preselection.
