Top news items of S. African major news outlets

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

-- Platinum mining firms and trade unions should conclude wage talks quickly to avoid the protracted disputes that led to a five-month strike two years ago, Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane said on Friday.

"I wish that everybody can negotiate with cool heads and avoid a strike and speedily resolve these negotiations," he told reporters at a Sibanye Gold mine.(Business Day)

-- Black professionals still earn significantly less than their white counterparts, according to research done by Analytico, a company that analyses earnings data in the private sector.

Analytico looked at a sample of 65 628 individuals who work as professionals to provide a broad picture of earnings differences. The data was then narrowed down to computer programmers to see if there are pay discrepancies per industry. (Fin24)

-- The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) has warned farmers against what it claims is a reluctance to release workers to vote in August 3 municipal elections.

The labour federation says it has visited several farms in Ventersdorp and Stella in North West where workers were allegedly refused time-off to vote in previous elections.(South African Broadcasting Corporation) Enditem