[1] He joined the African National Congress (ANC) and trade union movement in the 1950s in the early years of apartheid[2] and in the early 1960s he went into exile abroad to join Umkhonto we Sizwe, the ANC's newly established (and newly illegal) armed wing.
[3] After his release, Fazzie was closely involved in the formation of the Port Elizabeth Black Civic Organisation (PEBCO); he ultimately served as its vice president.
[1] In the 1980s, he was a regional leader of the Cape branch of the United Democratic Front, which organised major consumer boycotts in Port Elizabeth.
[1][2][3] In 1986, after contravening a banning order which circumscribed his political activity, he was detained without trial for almost three years at St Alban's Prison.
[2][3] He was not initially re-elected in 1999 but returned to the National Assembly not long into the legislative term, on 3 May 2000, to fill a casual vacancy.