Thabo Mbeki, when he is in Pretoria, views the world from a hilltop eyrie of rarefied beauty. The South African president's official residence, a Cape Dutch replica decorated with Delft-style porcelain and chiming clocks, looks out over rolling highveld landscape. Called "Libertas" by its former apartheid-era occupants, the house has since been renamed "Dawn of a New Era" in the Shangaan language.

Time at home is an increasingly rare treat for Mr Mbeki. With four years to run in his second and final term, he is pursuing an ambitious agenda. Internationally, he is involved in brokering peace efforts around Africa and arguing the continent's case in the rich north on a travel schedule that may feature Sudan in the same week as Switzerland. At home, he is pursuing a far-reaching and increasingly state-led economic agenda aimed at improving living standards for South Africa's millions of poor blacks.