"Shoddy papers" submitted to the Electoral Court for clarity on candidates not on the voters' roll could delay the election timetable, the court's chairperson said on Friday.

Justice Kenneth Mthiyane said the court had not yet come to a decision on whether 110 election candidates whose names were not on the voters' roll were eligible to stand as the papers it received from the parties were in a "shambolic state".

"There is no decision yet... the papers given to us initially were in a shambolic state... the papers are being couriered to me and I have to see whether they are in a proper state," he told Sapa.

The papers were being re-sent to him on Friday.

The Electoral Court had until Tuesday to decide on the eligibility of the candidates objected to by Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) chief electoral officer Pansy Tlakula, who charged the candidates could not stand as they were not qualified to vote.

Tlakula said: "A person qualified to stand is a person who is qualified to vote and you are not qualified to vote if you are not registered."

Her decision, however, was overturned by IEC commissioners.

The Electoral Act does not stipulate whether or not a candidate should be registered as a voter. The matter was referred to the Electoral Court for clarity.

The 110 are among the 297 candidates, from 28 political parties, to whom Tlakula had objected.

Mthiyane could not say when a decision would be made.

"I haven't seen them [the papers being couriered] yet so I am not sure what state they are in and you must remember they are voluminous wads of paper which five judges need to look at," he said.

"Lawyers must understand that there is a timetable... if the papers are shoddy, it becomes difficult.

"I can't say how we are going to deal with it until we have seen the papers... we will look at the papers to see what explanation is given."

According to the election timetable, the decision on appeals by the Electoral Court was meant to be made known by Tuesday, March 31.

The Electoral Commission was expected to then compile a final list of candidates on or before Friday, 3 April.

Candidates should receive their certificates by 7 April.

IEC spokesperson Kate Bapela and senior electoral officer, Michael Hendrickse of the commission's legal services, could not immediately be reached for comment.

Hendrickse earlier told the SABC the court was expected to rule on the matter on Friday, after which the commission could announce the final list of candidates.