President Robert Mugabe came, saw and made an impassioned plea yesterday for South Africa to help Zimbabwe rebuild its economy. Zimbabwe has suffered from low economic growth and high unemployment since launching a series of controversial land reforms 14 years ago.Mugabe, 91, said the economies of South Africa and Zimbabwe were inextricably linked and that opportunities for deeper cooperation existed.Ministers from both countries signed a series of co-operation agreements for, among other things, the establishment of a binational commission, a joint water commission and a one-stop border post to ease travel.Mugabe thanked his "comrade", President Jacob Zuma, for giving him the opportunity to improve socioeconomic relations between the two countries.Mugabe said that, although South Africa had the more advanced economy, Zimbabwe possessed minerals such as chrome, diamonds and iron, and farmed cotton and tobacco.Mugabe said Zimbabwe could not dominate trade relations between the two countries because it was far less developed and had a smaller population.He thanked South Africa for providing Zimbabweans with jobs, even though illegal immigrants were "sometimes disturbing your social system".Zuma said: "The historic fraternal relations between our countries necessitated that we work closely together for the betterment of the lives of our people and also promote sustainable development in our region and continent ."The DA said it was wrong for South Africa to have rolled out the red carpet for Mugabe.The opposition party said the government should have used the opportunity to pressure Mugabe into stopping the many human rights abuses that have characterised his rule.Stevens Mokgalapa, a DA MP and the party's spokesman on international relations and co-operation, said: "To implicitly suggest that the injustices of Mugabe's plundering of Zimbabwe should be swept under the very red carpet our government seeks to roll out today is deeply concerning."In his speech Mugabe launched a wide-ranging attack on the West and its recent interventions in the Arab world.His main targets were the UN Security Council, the US and his country's former colonial power, Britain.Mugabe said: "We want a political environment in which we are not interfered with by outsiders and we become masters of ourselves in Africa."We don't think we are getting a fair deal at the UN."Mugabe, who has frequently been accused of using violence to stay in power, said his state visit to Pretoria represented Africa's victory over colonialists."Now we are our own people and we have President Zuma here and President Mugabe in Zimbabwe - that is what you fought for."African resources belong to Africa. Others may come to assist as our friends and allies but no longer as colonisers or oppressors, no longer as racists."..