Top news items in major S. African media outlets

he following are highlights of South African major media outlets on Wednesday:

-- President Jacob Zuma has written to National Prosecuting Agency (NPA) head Shaun Abrahams asking him to provide reasons why he should not be suspended.

This follows the NPA's decision to charge Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan and then later drop the charges.(News24).

-- The latest BankservAfrica Economic Transaction Index (BETI), which is usually a good barometer of growth trends within the economy, suggests a further decline in the South African economy.

The BETI, a measure of all South African interbank transactions under five million rand, shrank significantly in October on a monthly and quarterly basis, according to BankservAfrica's latest Economic Transaction Index.(Fin24).

-- Justice and Correctional Services Minister, Michael Masutha has welcomed the Constitutional Court's decision dismissing the Democratic Alliance's (DA) application to have direct access in a bid to challenge government's withdrawal from the Rome Statue of the International Criminal Court.

The court found that the matter did not invoke the jurisdiction of the court, and that it was not in the best interests of justice for the court to hear it at this stage.(South African Broadcasting Corporation). Endit