Veteran anti-apartheid activist Fatima Meer, died at Johannesburg in South Africa yesterday after a prolonged illness. She was 81.<br/>The outspoken African National Congress (ANC) leader, Meer was close confidantes of Nelson Mandela.She was one of recipients of the annual Pravasi Bharatiya Samman in 2003. <br/>Meer authored more than forty books on a wide variety of subjects and wrote the screenplay for the Shyam Benegal's film 'The Making of the Mahatma'.