Top news items in major S. African media outlets

CAPE TOWN, April 19 (Xinhua) - The following are news items in South African major news outlets on Thursday:

-- The national bus strike entered its second day on Thursday with the parties still far apart in wage negotiations.

Bus drivers downed tools on Wednesday after employers rejected their demand for 12-percent salary increase.(News24)

-- National Police Commissioner Khehla Sitole said on Wednesday that the government needs to invest more money in the South African Police Service (SAPS).

Sitole and several of his colleagues briefed Members of Parliament (MPs) on the police service's annual performance plan and budget.(Eyewitness News)

-- Commuters have called on unions that are representing striking bus drivers and the employer's organization to resolve the stalemate over pay hikes, as it continues to cost them.

Thousands of commuters around the country, who use buses as their primary mode of transport, will once again have to find alternate modes of transport on Thursday as the nationwide bus strike continues.(South African Broadcasting Corporation) Enditem