Critics say their calls are little more than political opportunism to hedge their bets should their election results be as disappointing as expected.
Already, leaders such as United Democratic Movement’s (UDM) Bantu Holomisa and Julius Malema from the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) have spoken of civil war should the results be questionable.
The fear is they are preparing the ground to call the results into question should they perform badly at the polls, conveniently using Tlakula’s misdemeanours to explain their poor performance.
Ironically, political analyst Steven Friedman believes giving these parties what they want is the only way to prevent such political opportunism.
“You don’t want a situation where people could cry sour for no reason,” he told the Mail & Guardian.
“I’m not even saying she should go permanently, I’m saying it would make sense to protect the credibility of the election, for her to step aside until after May 7 and then evaluate the situation after that … I don’t think Pansy Tlakula’s role as chair for the next few weeks is so vital that it bears compromising the election,” he said, adding that this applied even if there was no valid reason for her to step aside.