Top news items in major S. African media outlets

The following are news items in South African major news outlets on Monday.

-- The Indian Gupta family, blacklisted by South Africa's top four banks, could be one step closer to solving their dilemma after the Competition Commission approved a merger between Habib Overseas Bank and a company set up by allies Salim Aziz Essa and Hamza Farooqui.

The commission said it approved the intermediate merger without conditions "whereby Vardospan intends to acquire Habib Overseas Bank", it said in a statement on Sunday. (Fin24)

-- Being deputy president of the African National Congress (ANC) is not a "shortcut" to the presidency, said ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe at the party's birthday rally in George, Western Cape on Sunday.

There was also no need to refer to the possibility of a woman leading the 105-year-old liberation movement as "the first woman president of the ANC", he said. (News24) Endit