J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE/AP SOUTH AFRICA, JULY 9: Bush called his ties with Mbeki “strong,” while Mbeki lauded Bush’s “clear commitment” to Africa

The African Bush
	The idea of a trip to Africa had been in George W. Bush's mind since before he took the oath of office. Last week, he finally made it. Visiting five countries in five days, he showed his compassionate side, stumped for democracy and trade, and preached self-reliance, but raised hopes that the U.S. would help lift the fortunes of the troubled continent
	By BY JOHN F. DICKERSON with BUSH and JEFF CHU

Posted Sunday, July 13, 2003; 13.05BST
On the second day of George W. Bush's tour of Africa, Miriam Mahlambane sat under a jacaranda tree as the President's motorcade swept through the gates of Pretoria's Union Buildings, a historic complex of government offices perched on a hill overlooking South Africa's capital. The matronly Mahlambane, a witch doctor in a bright print dress, animal skins and strings of clattering beads, threw a cluster of bones, stones and wood onto the ground, then peered at the pattern they made to divine Bush's intentions in coming to this place. "Hau!" she exclaimed. "This man, he is powerful. He brings great strength." Then she frowned. "But his strength will go home with him."

Some Bush critics didn't want him in Africa to begin with; one South African activist went so far as to call him a "weapon of mass destruction." But most people along Bush's five-day, five-country route last week — and many who observed from afar — hoped to harness his power for the continent's good. The proposals Bush trumpeted, says singer-activist Bono, are "potentially life-changing and life-saving for millions of people." The President's pledges include more than $1 billion for education, food aid, counterterrorism and famine relief. And if Bush's big proposals go through — his $15 billion aids plan; his Millennium Challenge Account, rewarding developing nations that commit to human rights and free trade — then, says Bono, "we have to be ready to stand up and applaud this President's leadership."

For the 800 million people of Africa, that is a big "if." They will be watching closely to see if his excursion was just a pricey photo op designed to highlight Bush's compassionate side, or a sign that the President truly intends to give sustained attention to Africa's problems — AIDS, of course, but also devastating civil wars, gnawing hunger and struggles to build durable democracies, functional civil societies and economies that can create livelihoods for millions of men and women.

If Bush is making that commitment, he would be the first U.S. President to do so. But the time when Africa expected any outsider to sweep in with magical solutions to its problems is long past. The message from both Bush and leaders such as South Africa's Thabo Mbeki was that the U.S. would help, but that Africa would have to save itself — and has started to do so, with initiatives such as the African Union, which held its annual summit in Mozambique last week, and the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), which is intended to build accountability and sustainable growth.

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