Oscar Pistorius took acting lessons, Jani Allan claims

Oscar Pistorius took acting lessons before his trial, according to a report in The New York Post that cites none other than long-forgotten South African gossip columnist Jani Allan.

Allan, a former Sunday Times writer who gained notoriety in the 80s after an alleged affair with Eugene Terre’blanche, published the claim on her blog on April 14 and in the Daily Maverick the following day. But the line was only picked up by the Post today.

In a post as deliciously vicious as the best of her columns at the height of her fame, Allan likens her dealings with Terre’blanche to her perception of Pistorius: “The man whom I thought was a leader and an inspiration to his people took to calling me obsessively and crying noisily on my answerphone.”

Later in the open letter to Pistorius she reveals: “I have it from a reliable source that you are taking acting lessons for your days in court. Your coach has an impossible task.”

Anneliese Burgess, Oscar Pistorius's media manager, has refuted the claim in a statement published by the Daily Maverick, saying: "We...deny that our client has undergone any 'acting lessons' or any form of emotional coaching. This type of comment makes a mockery of the enormous human tragedy involving the Steenkamp family and our client and his family."

That's unlikely to be enought to stop Ms Allan, whose letter finishes: “You truly represent everything that the West loathes about white South Africans who live extravagant lives […] Oscar, you are the latest in a long line of faux heroes. Like so many who preceded you, you have betrayed your people and disappointed your fans.”

Younger readers may not be familiar with the 62-year-old’s work, but she was a force to be reckoned with in her day. Back in 1987, South Africans even voted her "the most admired person" in the country.

Allan immigrated to the US in 2001, where she worked in PR and in the restaurant industry. She also tried her hand at astrology, which must have amused her former flatmate Linda Shaw.

Her renewed popularity follows a return to writing on the blogosphere and rising popularity on Twitter – all perfectly dovetailing with the release of her memoirs this year, Just Jani, published by Jacana Media.