Top news items in major S. African media outlets

The following are highlights of South African major media outlets on Saturday.

-- South African telecom company MTN's record 1.7 billion U.S. dollar fine in Nigeria is about to get a whole lot cheaper.

MTN rose the most in a week as investors prepared for a slump in the Nigerian naira, after Africa's second-biggest crude producer's central bank said it would let the currency float and weaken next week.(Business Day)

-- South Africa has narrowly survived a downgrade of the rating of its government bonds. The reprieve, however, is temporary because the government has been warned by the Big Three rating agencies - Fitch, Moody's and Standard & Poor's - to pull up its socks.

South Africa's current rating, just above investment grade, puts it more or less on par with countries such as Italy and Spain. And even with a downward trajectory through speculative grade, it is still several notches away from outright "junk" or "CCC". (News24)

-- The African National Congress will for the first time name its mayoral candidates for a municipal election.

The party has called a Special National Executive Committee meeting in Pretoria on Saturday to finalize its mayoral list for the country's eight metros as the August 3 local poll draws closer. (South African Broadcasting Corporation). Endit