Veteran anti-apartheid activist dies

A South African anti-apartheid activist who was sentenced to life imprisonment with Nelson Mandela has died after brain surgery.

Veteran South African anti-apartheid activist Ahmed Kathrada has died in Johannesburg, aged 87. (AAP)

Veteran South African anti-apartheid activist Ahmed Kathrada has died in Johannesburg after complications following brain surgery, aged 87.

Kathrada was sentenced to life imprisonment and hard labour in 1964, together with other ANC luminaries including Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu and Govan Mbek.

He spent the next 18 years at the maximum security section on apartheid's most notorious prison, Robben Island, a few miles offshore Cape Town city.

Kathrada was moved to Pollsmoor prison in 1982 and was released from jail on 15 October 1989 at the age of 60, having spent just over 26 years in jail for his anti-apartheid activities.