The African National Congress (ANC) has welcomed the Independent Electoral Commission's (IEC's) dismissal of objections lodged against three of its candidates for the April 22 election.

"This decision reinforces the ANC's contention that it has made every effort to ensure that its list of candidates is compliant with all relevant provisions of the Constitution and Electoral Act," it said in a statement on Monday.

The objections included opposition to the candidature of ANC president Jacob Zuma and national executive committee member Winnie Madikizela-Mandela.

"The extensive process of candidate selection within the ANC has produced a list of candidates with credibility and experience, and a strong commitment to working with communities to address their needs," said ANC spokesperson Jessie Duarte.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) and the Freedom Front Plus (FF Plus) had lodged formal objections to Madikizela-Mandela's nomination, citing her fraud conviction.

On Monday, the IEC found that she was "not disqualified from standing as a candidate" and dismissed the objection.

Madikizela-Mandela was fifth on the ANC's list, after Finance
Minister Trevor Manuel and before Foreign Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.

According to the Constitution, a person sentenced to more than 12 months in jail without the option of a fine is not allowed to hold a seat in Parliament or the provincial legislatures until five years after the sentence has been "completed".

In July 2004, Madikizela-Mandela had an earlier sentence for fraud and theft reduced on appeal to three-and-a-half years.

The DA and the FFPlus argued that the lapsing of the five-year suspension of that sentence in July disqualifies her from running for the National Assembly.

However, the ANC held that the Constitutional provision did not apply in her case because she never actually went to jail.

Objections to the IEC were made against 338 out of the 9425 candidates submitted on various party lists.

Of these, 297 were made by the chief electoral officer Pansy Tlakula, because they were not on the voter's roll, were not South African citizens or had failed to agree to the code of conduct for the election. Two of them were dead.

The IEC said appeals against its decision on objections had to be lodged with the Electoral Court by March 26 and would be decided by March 31. Candidates on the final list would be issued with their certificates on April 7.