Just two days after announcing that he is quitting music for politics, entertainer Alistair Izobell was already on the election trail.
Izobell went on Heart FM on Friday afternoon to tell fans that after 33 years in the entertainment industry, he’s joining Good, the party founded by former Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille last year.
The Daily Voice can reveal that the award-winning singer, actor and producer is on the party’s candidate list for the provincial legislature, which means should they garner enough votes in the 8 May general elections, Izobell will become an MEC in the Western Cape.
According to him, he will be the Good Party’s Arts and Culture spokesman, having mentored the likes of singers Nur Abrahams, Edith Plaatjies, Andrea Anthony and Robin Pieters.
“At the moment my role (in the party) is to give a voice to the arts industry as a whole,” Izobell tells Daily Voice.
“I think I will play a stronger role than I have in the last two decades of assisting and providing support and developing the arts industry.”
On Sunday, Izobell joined De Lille for a political rally in Manenberg, her first in Cape Town.
ELECTION TRAIL: Alistair with Good’s leader Patricia de Lille
They went to Isabel Court where they chatted to a woman whose flat recently burnt out.
Residents applauded and embraced Izobell when they heard he has joined Good.
The 44-year-old entertainer admits he has been receiving flak from some fans for joining Good.
“I will not be stopping singing and music altogether and I’m not joining Patricia’s party to be the rally singer,” he says.
“There is great respect for what I bring and while people are questioning my decision, I’m asking them to respect it because it is my democratic right to belong to any political movement that I, as a free South African, choose to be with, without being ostracised.
“Sometimes in our lives and our careers we want to do something different. I’m not walking away from the entertainment industry. I’m merely going onto the political platform in order to fix the challenges within the arts industry.”
Izobell says his last “official singing performance” for the next five years will be on 30 March at GrandWest.
“Music Alla Kaap will be my final performance for a while, that doesn’t mean I’m retiring from the entertainment industry but I have to focus on this (politics), one cannot be half pregnant,” he jokes.