Top news items in major S. African media outlets

The following are news highlights in South Africa's major media outlets on Thursday.

-- As counting in the local government polls progressed on Thursday, the African National Congress (ANC) was holding onto its slight majority, though its count at 7am was slightly lower than an hour earlier. The Democratic Alliance (DA), on the other hand, took strong early leads in all three Gauteng metros, as well as Nelson Mandela Bay. (Business Day)

-- Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema on Wednesday slammed the ANC for handing out T-shirts to community members, calling it unethical, while members of his own party did the same in his hometown. (Nes24)

-- The Independent Electoral Commission's (IEC) Chief Executive Officer, Mosotho Moepya, says four people are known to have died during voting on Wednesday.

Moepya says that the voters' deaths are a result of natural causes. (South African Broadcasting Corporation) Endit