The post-revolutionary blues — it’s probably much more serious than we thought

What is EAP? 

No, it’s got nothing to do with employee wellness or so-called “employee assistance programmes”. 

It’s a new field which I believe should be studied and understood, perhaps as a branch of social psychology. 

I used to call it “the post-revolutionary blues”. 

Over time, I have come to realise that this is more than just a trivial case of the blues. It is much more serious than that. 

Perhaps I should backtrack a bit first and start at the beginning.  

In the mid-90s, I was a firm believer in the potential of excellence in South Africa. I believed that, as a nation, black and white together, we had enough talent and courage to make this country work as a democracy in which everyone had equal access to opportunities. I still believe that. I see examples of South African excellence all around me every day. 

For some reason, the one place where I don’t see it, the one place where I simply can’t find it no matter how hard I look for it, is in the ranks of the present-day ruling party. 

The ANC seems to be an organisation utterly devoid of excellence. Most of them, if not all, are incompetent, lazy, dishonest and ineffectual. 

If anyone had told me then what a mess this country would be in a quarter of a century later, I would not have believed it. 

Back to the concept of EAP. 

In order to explain it properly, I have to relate an incident that happened to me shortly after the first democratic elections, when, by pure chance, I met two ex-Umkhonto we Sizwe fighters in a bar in Johannesburg. We started talking. 

I was very pleased when they told me, “We read about what you guys did in the papers. We know about the Voëlvry Tour. It was a great job you did, you and Dirk Uys and Johannes Kerkorrel.” 

I wanted to befriend these guys, to find out more about their experiences in the Struggle. I was curious to find out what motivated them, and how they ended up taking such a brave stand way back then. So I wrote down their addresses. 

During the next week, I visited the first one. He lived in a not-too-shabby outside room in Troyeville. When I arrived there, however, I was quite taken aback by what I saw. 

As I walked in, I immediately realised that I was suddenly in the middle of a domestic dispute. This Struggle veteran was embroiled in a very nasty battle of words with what was obviously his girlfriend. I was shocked at the angry and disrespectful way he treated her. I was also taken aback by the state of his little apartment; dirt lying around everywhere, unwashed dishes, et cetera. The place was a mess. 

His life was a mess. 

In one second, this person went from hero to zero in my eyes. I removed myself from his life and never visited him again. 

Years later, when my own life started falling apart in much the same way that his life had fallen apart, I still did not have any insight into what was happening to me. 

I know now that this man, like many others, and also like me, was a helpless victim of what I call EAP. 

Ex-Activist Psychosis. 

Ex-Activist Psychosis is what happens to many people who, at some point in their lives, suddenly wake up to realise: “I have spent all my life up till now fighting for a cause. I sacrificed everything for this cause. I have never had the opportunity of leading a normal life.” 

What happens next is nothing short of terrifying. 

That’s when you start playing catch-up. 

Victims of EAP all have certain traits in common. Though these traits are recognised by everyone around them as severe personality disorders, they themselves do not see it that way.

They have an acute sense of entitlement. They are crippled by feelings of revenge and hatred. In most cases, they hate people who are closest to them: friends, lovers, relatives, even ex-comrades.    

It is as if once the enemy they had fought against is no longer there, they have to find another target for their aggression. 

It happens in almost every revolutionary organisation. It happens to every group of people who set out to change society in a radical way. It happened to the ANC. It happened, on a smaller scale, to almost all of us who were members of the Vo֝ëlvry Tour. Fuck, come to think of it, the same thing happened to The Beatles!