Veteran anti-apartheid activist Professor Fatima Meer has died at a Durban hospital this afternoon. She was 81. Meer was admitted to hospital last month after suffering a serious stroke. She was married to the late anti-apartheid activist and lawyer Ismail Meer.

Meer was regarded as a 'Whirlwind in the Sari'. She kindled hopes of democracy and equality during South Africa's apartheid era. Detention without trial and a stay in solitary confinement notwithstanding, Meer survived an attempted assassination. Undeterred, she remained a champion of social justice until the very end.

Born in Durban in 1928, Meer was the second eldest of nine children. She grew up in an extended family, which was highly conscious of racial discrimination.

In the 1940s, she became an executive member of the Natal Indian Congress, actively campaigning against the Group Areas Act removals. Malcontent, she launched protest demonstrations against detention without trial in the 60s, and organised Anti-Pass Campaigns with the ANC Women's League.

In late 1976, both Meer and her close friend Winnie Madikizela-Mandela were detained by the apartheid government at the old Fort Prison in Johannesburg. Meer was held for 113 days on suspicion of being a terrorist.

A prolific author, Meer wrote and edited over 40 books and publications. These included the "The Trial of Andrew Zondo" and her 1988 biography of Nelson Mandela.

In 1993, she was appointed to the SABC Board. Seven years ago Meer was the first woman in the world and South Africa to get the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award from India for her active role in political, social and philanthropic causes.

Besides her political strife, she was also plagued by ill health. She is survived by her two daughters-- Shenaaz and Shamim.