Corruption Watch has launched an online voting tool on its website allowing members of the public to vote for their preferred candidate for the position of Public Protector.

The results of this voting poll, designed to inform the Parliamentary ad hoc committee about the public’s opinion on the most suitable candidate, will be made available on the Corruption Watch website.

The committee started interviewing the 14 shortlisted candidates on Thursday, though this process ran well into the early hours of Friday morning.

While the final decision rests with the ad hoc committee, submissions by Corruption Watch have played a role in providing useful information about candidates in the run-up to the interviews.

The ad hoc committee will provide a date for its deliberation over its choice of candidates in the next two weeks, and the name of the final selected candidate must be submitted to the National Assembly on August 31.

The National Assembly will vote on the candidate, who must obtain a 60% majority, before the name is submitted to President Jacob Zuma to approve and appoint.