Well-known newspaper and magazine columnist Darrel Bristow-Bovey has become embroiled in fresh allegations of plagiarism, only months after weathering similar claims.
Chris Whitfield, editor of The Star's sister publication the Cape Times, announced on Wednesday that his column would no longer be appearing in the newspaper's Top of the Times supplement.
Whitfield said Bristow-Bovey had withdrawn his services after a reader brought information about one of his columns to the attention of the Cape Times. It was pointed out that there were similarities between part of his Cape Times column on May 23 and paragraphs in Jeremy Paxman's book The English.
Whitfield said: "This is a sad turn of events. Darrel is a very talented South African writer and we have enjoyed running his column, but the complaint raised issues that had to be confronted."
Two months ago, the Saturday Star published an article highlighting similarities in a section of Bristow-Bovey's 2002 book, The Naked Bachelor, and US author Bill Bryson's Notes From A Big Country.
A resigned Bristow-Bovey said on Wednesday night: "I don't consider myself a plagiarist and don't consider myself an unoriginal writer. But circumstances have meant it's impossible for me to continue writing columns in South Africa."