Objections to candidates now closed

"It is not yet possible to indicate [exactly] how many candidates have been objected to, as the submissions must now be captured and processed.

"Some of the submissions relate to more than one candidate and it is possible that more than one objection has been received for the same candidates," the IEC said in a statement on Wednesday.

The Commission has until 7 April 2014 to consider and finalise these objections.

Appeals against the decision of the Commission must be submitted to the Electoral Court by 10 April 2014.

The final deadline for decisions of the Electoral Court is 15 April 2014, following which the Chief Electoral Officer is required to give effect to decisions of the Commission on objections or a decision of the Electoral Court by 22 April 2014.

The IEC said certificates will be issued to candidates on the final list of candidates by 24 April.