Top news items in major S. African media outlets

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

-- After four days of introspection over its electoral decline, the African National Congress (ANC) has again closed ranks around its president Jacob Zuma, despite the strong evidence of his unpopularity among voters.

The decision will have far-reaching consequences for the ANC's ability to win back lost voters, especially in Gauteng, and seals its fate in the attempt to form municipal coalition governments as several smaller parties have Zuma's resignation as a precondition to an alliance. (Business Day)

-- Pressure is mounting on the higher education department as student leaders plan to begin consultations and mass meetings on Monday to pave a way forward on the issue of student fees.

The South African Union of Students (SAUS), which claims to be the largest federation of student governance representation, says it has lost patience with the government and will accept nothing but a zero percent fee increase in all universities in 2017.(News24)

-- The African National Congress did not spend near 1 billion rand (76 million USD) on its August 3 municipal elections campaign, secretary general Gwede Mantashe said on Sunday evening.

"We've received a report on the finances of the elections. I can tell you that we didn't spend a billion [rand]. We didn't spend half a billion," Mantashe told reporters in Pretoria at the conclusion of the party's four-day national executive committee meeting. (African News Agency) Enditem