Zille said Zimbabweans are highly-skilled people who are playing a key role in running the South African economy. She added that “… They have been here for a very long, very long time and they have added value to our economy.”
She said there was need for South Africa to attract skilled people capable of setting up businesses or working in special sectors.
There are nearly 180,000 ZEP holders who have been given up to December 31 this year to regularize their status or face deportation.
Indications are that the DA is in talks with the African National Congress which may lead to the formation of a government following the ANC’s failure to get an outright majority in the just-ended general elections.
The pro-business DA may fight for the regularization of ZEP holders’ status instead of them abandoning their status by the end of this year.