Top news items in major S. African news outlets

CAPE TOWN, Dec. 20 (Xinhua) -- The following are news items in South African major news outlets on Wednesday:

-- The African National Congress' (ANC's) 54th national conference is drawing to a close on Wednesday, but late on Tuesday night, the matter of the more than 60 quarantined votes was still being dealt with by the steering committee.

Voting for the National Executive Committee (NEC) -- the party's highest decision-making body -- was expected to last well into the night, after the initial process had to be halted and ballot papers had to be reprinted.(News24)

-- The rand's surge lasted only as long as it took Cyril Ramaphosa to get himself to the top of the nation's ruling party.

Now the currency's world-beating rally is losing steam, and derivatives markets suggest it's vulnerable to a renewed selloff. (Fin24)

-- African National Congress (ANC) President Cyril Ramaphosa has described the party's new leadership as a combination of all the different ideas and approaches expressed ahead of the ANC's national conference.

Ramaphosa conducted his first official duties on Tuesday following his election as Jacob Zuma's successor on Monday. (Eyewitness News) Enditem