The father of South African President Mr Thabo Mbeki has died at his home in the coastal town of Port Elizabeth, the president's office said today.
Mr Govan Mbeki (91) had been in failing health for some time, an official in the president's office told
Reuters
. Mr Mbeki's office said funeral arrangements had not yet been made.
The elder Mr Mbeki had dedicated most of his life to the struggle against white rule.
He was jailed for life on sabotage charges in 1964 and spent 23 years in prison with former president Mr Nelson Mandela on Robben Island.
While he was in prison his son Thabo went into exile abroad, studying in England and receiving military training in the former Soviet Union.
Mr Govan Mbeki was released from jail in November 1987 and immediately resumed his activities with the African National Congress (ANC).
President Mbeki's spokesman, Mr Bheki Khumalo, told public radio that Mr Govan Mbeki was part of a "generation of leaders who sacrificed everything they had and dedicated themselves to the struggle against apartheid".
The South African Communist Party, of which he was a life-time member, described him as a giant of the anti-apartheid movement.