Some 338 objections were lodged against candidates submitted to represent parties in government, the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) said on Thursday.

This was out of a total of 9425 candidates, the IEC said in a statement.

The announcement followed the end of a three-day period during which the public and the chief electoral officer could object to any candidate appearing on the lists submitted by political parties earlier this month.

Objections could be made if a candidate was "not qualified" to stand in terms of sections 47 and 106 of the Constitution, if candidates had not signed an acceptance of their nomination and if they failed to sign an undertaking to be bound by the electoral code of conduct.

The IEC's chief electoral officer had objected to 297 candidates for not being on the voters' roll, for not being a citizen, and for failure to submit the candidate's undertaking to be bound by the code of conduct. The IEC objected to two of these candidates as they were dead.

Forty-one candidates were objected to by individuals.

"It is important to note that as far as objections are concerned, the law envisages separation of functions between the chief electoral officer and the five members of the commission (commissioners).

"The objections will be decided upon by the commissioners and in deciding these objections, they maintain their independence and may uphold or even reject any objection, including one or more of those lodged by the chief electoral officer," said chief electoral officer Pansy Tlakula.

The objections would be considered and decided upon by the commission by 23 March.

Appeals may be lodged to the Electoral Court by 26 March and its decision would be made known by 31 March.

A final list of candidates would be compiled by 3 April and candidates would receive their certificates by 7 April.