Man in the mirror
Narcissistic leaders should never be in power, decries William Gumede
SA, like many post-colonial African societies, appears to have a disproportionate number of narcissistic political leaders in powerful positions, focusing on their own selfaggrandisement, causing societal divisions, corruption and stunted development.
Narcissistic leaders often rise to power in periods of chaos, confusion and uncertainty. African countries like SA, with their high levels of poverty, contestation over legal, cultural and moral codes, and lack of direction, are fertile ground for narcissists.
Narcissists exploit these conditions to present themselves as caring, fighting for the poor and knowing all the answers. They lack conscience, disregard laws, rules and conventions, and take little mutual responsibility for sustainable relationships.
Democratic, institutional and societal checks and balances are often weak in Africa and in developing countries in transition, which provides the space for narcissistic leaders to become autocratic.
Many people in these societies surrender to the control of narcissists, charmed by their apparent confidence, outrageous promises of instant nirvana and because they play on people’s fears, victimhood and prejudices by blaming scapegoats for problems.
Narcissism is often not given its due recognition in SA and African politics, let alone in business and personal relationships, yet it unleashes so much pain on its victims, societies and countries.
Narcissists are damaged individuals, who the psychologist Ramani Durvasula says have experienced abandonment during a critical period of their emotional development. They suffer from a poverty of their inner lives.
The psychoanalyst Robert Waelder in 1925 described the narcissistic personality, and Heinz Kohut later coined the term narcissistic personality disorder for a set of traits which include having an exaggerated sense of superiority, a lack of self-awareness about the impact of their behaviour and having a disdain for others, who they devalue to validate their own grandiosity.
They have God complexes, thrive on the pain of others, lack empathy and are often entitled. They have a distorted sense of reality, a belief in their own version of the truth, and cannot see anything from anyone else’s perspective than their own. They will make things up.
Narcissistic leaders lack self-awareness, any capacity for honest self-reflection and empathy for others. They cannot see fault in themselves, blame others for their mistakes and minimise the consequences of their actions. They alter reality to suit themselves, turning themselves into victims even though they are the perpetrators of wrongdoing. In order to secure or retain power, they have no compunction in destroying public resources and institutions. They are toxic to their countries.
Victims of narcissistic abuse — whether the children of abusers, the adult partners of abusers or citizens of countries led by narcissists — often blame themselves for the abuse meted out against them, devaluing their own needs and losing their own agency.
After a decade of state capture, patronage and wasted resources under his watch, former president Jacob Zuma still asks what he has done to be prosecuted for corruption during his presidency and before. There is no self-reflection, no understanding of the damaging impact of his leadership on ordinary citizens — business closures, joblessness and the collapse of public services. No owning up to mistakes. It’s the fault of white monopoly capital, the victims of state capture brought it on themselves. It’s his “enemies”, but not him.
ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule, when he was premier of the Free State, is alleged to have run the province like a Mafiastan, appointing pliable loyalists, channelling state contracts to allies and causing a failed provincial state. Now that the National Prosecuting Authority is finally moving its gaze towards him, he claims innocence, saying he is a victim of the abuse of power, of Hollywood-style prosecution, contemptuously dismissing critics.
There have been countless occasions when African dictators, like the late Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe, unleashed violence against their own citizens, looted public resources and deliberately sowed ethnic divisions, yet portray themselves as victims who have done nothing wrong.
These narcissistic leaders cannot accept accountability for their actions. Neither do they care whether they take down their partners, organisations or country with them, as they do not care about others, only about themselves.
Narcissistic leaders should not be in power, whether in companies, political parties or countries. South Africans and Africans should stop falling for the devilish charm of narcissistic leaders — because once they are in power it is difficult to get them out.
Nevertheless, when in power, they should be prosecuted for wrongdoing. Ordinary citizens, civil society organisations and democratic institutions should serve as checks and balances to constrain the toxic excesses of narcissistic leaders, and vote them out at the earliest opportunity.