September 29, 2015.
For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Sane Dhlamini.
Making headlines:

There are concerns over the reliability and relevance of the soon to be released crime statistics.
 
President Jacob Zuma blames world leaders for a ‘man-made’ refugee crisis in Europe. 

And, the Western Cape High Court is expected to deliver judgement in the  e-tolls case tomorrow.

The pending announcement of the annual crime statistics today has sparked doubt around their validity and created questions over their relevance.

The Democratic Alliance MP Dianne Kohler Barnard said that the 2014/2015 crime statistics could be manipulated if they were not independently audited. 

She said that the crime statistics should be independently audited to ensure that the citizenry of South Africa accept their validity.

Head of the Governance, Crime and Justice Division at the Institute for Security Studies (or ISS) Gareth Newham told a news agency that the new statistics could show an increase in murders and robberies.

Newham said the biggest flaw was that statistics involving assault and rape crimes,were unreliable.

South African Police Commissioner Riah Phiyega and Police Minister Nathi Nhleko are due to release South Africa's crime statistics for the past year today. 

President Jacob Zuma has rebuked world leaders at the annual gathering of the United Nations (or UN) over the current refugee crisis in Europe.

He said the crisis was “man-made” because world powers didn’t listen to Africa when it dealt with its problems.

Zuma was speaking at the global body’s 70th debate in its General Assembly on Monday night.

He said the situation in Libya and the Sahel region was a direct consequence of some members of the UN Security Council not heeding informed counsel from the African Union.

He said South Africa welcomed the meetings that would take place on the margins of the UN General Assembly to review the progress made in countering terrorism in the Middle East and North Africa.

Zuma cautioned, however, that the Security Council should heed Africa’s views in future when dealing with conflicts in those regions.

Western Cape High Court Judge Ashley Binns-Ward is expected to deliver judgement in the controversial e-tolls case tomorrow.

The City of Cape Town had approached the Western Cape High Court earlier this year in a bid to have the South African National Roads Agency (or Sanral) set aside its decision to toll parts of the N1 and N2.

In August, the City’s advocate Geoff Budlender argued that the Winelands Toll Project was “procedurally flawed” and that the transport minister and Sanral had not considered “key issues.”

He told the court that if the project was to go ahead, Capetonian road users would have to pay 74c per km for e-tolls, three times as much as Gauteng road users.

Cape Town Mayor Patricia de Lille called the decision to proceed with e-tolls “irrational” while Sanral contended that the City’s application was politically motivated.

In 2008, Sanral CEO Nazir Alli had submitted an application to the transport minister to declare the N1 and N2 highways as toll roads. This was then done.

Also making headlines:

The Democratic Alliance to lay charges over Hitachi payment to African National Congress ‘front’.

The Johannesburg Metro Police Department has warned motorists of traffic disruptions in Sandton.

Burkina Faso elite unit refused to disarm after coup.

And, doubts have grown about African Union mission to Somalia as Shabaab mounts attacks. 

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That’s a roundup of news making headlines today