What April told us about safety in Nelson Mandela Bay
Crime
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What April told us about safety in Nelson Mandela Bay
April was a busy month on the roads, and a steady one for the teams keeping watch over Nelson Mandela Bay.
Atlas Security responded to 444 incidents across the metro during April 2026, working alongside our clients and the wider community. That works out to roughly 15 incidents a day, every day, for the whole month.
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What the burglary numbers showed
Confirmed burglaries came in at 53 for April, down from 58 in March. Burglary attempts accounted for another 42 incidents.
Murder and attempted murder ticked up from 0 in March to 4 in April, including incidents in Cannon Hill, Bothasrus and Central. Those numbers sit alongside the rest as a reminder that the work is never finished.
Where April got busier
Two categories stood out.
Vehicle accidents more than doubled, from 19 in March to 42 in April. The Easter weekend, school holidays and visitor traffic through Algoa Country almost certainly carried most of that. Roads were full, and our patrols ended up first on scene more often than usual.
Theft and theft attempts together added up to 201 incidents, 14 more than March. Most were opportunistic: an unlocked vehicle, a parcel left in the wrong place, a moment of distraction. The pattern usually follows foot traffic and parking density rather than anything more sinister.
The suburb picture
Summerstrand and Walmer were the highest-volume suburbs in April, together accounting for roughly one in six of all incidents. Sidwell, South End, Newton Park, Overbaakens and Heuwelkruin rounded out the busier suburbs, with 11 to 17 incidents each.
What April actually tells us
The categories that matter most for community safety moved in the right direction in April. Confirmed burglaries dropped. Robbery incidents dropped. House robberies dropped. The work that prevents the worst outcomes, an armed response on the way the moment a signal hits the control room, did its job consistently across the month.
April was busy. It was busier on the roads, and steady where it counts. We will keep doing the work.
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