The 14 candidates shortlisted for the position of public protector will now be under even more scrutiny.

Corruption Watch’s David Lewis on Wednesday said the public participation was far from over in the process to find a candidate to replace Public Protector Thuli Madonsela.

The committee tasked with finding a replacement for Madonsela met to finalise the shortlist on Wednesday, which was whittled down to 14 candidates, including Deputy Public Protector Advocate Kevin Malunga, Western Cape High Court Judge Siraj Desai and Deputy National Director of Public Prosecutions Willie Hofmeyr.

Lewis said, so far, the process had been run very openly and transparently.

He said now they would do further investigations into the various candidates.

Corruption Watch last week vetted some of the candidates' professional and personal conduct, as well as their CVs, and provided a 114-page document to the committee.

"We are going to look much more deeply now at the 14 shortlisted candidates," Lewis said, following the meeting.

He said the public could still get involved.

The interviews would be televised and they would make sure the public knew exactly who the people on the shortlist were.

When the final candidate was presented to the National Assembly in August, they would also be putting up an app which would allow people in the public to vote, Lewis said.

Committee chairperson Dr Makhosi Khoza on Wednesday said the public participation process was not a "tick box exercise".

She also told the committee that the candidates would be put through a thorough screening, as they wanted to avoid situations where people lied about their qualifications.