Jani Allan cause of death: What happened to Jani Allan?
Emily Baldwin
Published Jan 01, 2026
Jani Allan was a South African journalist, columnist, writer, and broadcaster. She became one of the country’s first media celebrities in the 1980s and 1990s. In 1980, Allan became a columnist for the centrist newspaper, the Sunday Times, South Africa’s biggest-circulating weekly newspaper.
Jani Allan’s cause of death: What happened to Jani Allan?
South African journalist, columnist, writer, and broadcaster Jani Allan has succumbed to cancer, three months after being diagnosed. Her friend of over 30 years, Herman Lategan, confirmed to News24 that the 70-year-old Allan had died in the US on Tuesday night. During a catch-up on Facebook two months ago, Allan told Lategan about her diagnosis.
She wrote: “They tell me that I have cancer and I will not pull through. Thank you for your friendship and loyalty over the years. This is so bizarre.
Allan moved to the US after allegations that she had had an affair with Eugene Terre’Blanche, leader of the Afrikaner Weerstandbeweging (AWB).
“That broke her. It crushed her to the point where she felt she needed to leave the country. She was hurt that people in the country thought that she, a well-known public figure, would tarnish her reputation like that,” Lategan said.
