Jenni Irish-Qhobosheane, pioneering policing expert, dies in car accident

News of Jenni Irish-Qhobosheane’s untimely passing has prompted an outpouring of tributes from across the country’s public and civil society sectors.

Ian Cameron, chairperson of Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Police, expressed “deep shock and sadness” at her passing, describing Irish-Qhobosheane as an indispensable thought leader whose wealth of expertise, accumulated over more than three decades, was crucial to the nation’s ongoing fight against crime.

“Jenni’s passing robs the country of a dedicated policing expert when we need her knowledge, experience and expertise the most as efforts to combat crime intensify,” Cameron wrote in a statement.  

The Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, in a statement of its own, described Irish-Qhobosheane as a “leading and well-respected policing and conflict specialist” who “worked on policing and crime matters within the South African government and civil society for three decades”. 

Mark Shaw, director of the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, said: “She was a woman of courage, principle and humour who has made a massive contribution to the Global Initiative and criminal justice in South Africa.” 

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Irish-Qhobosheane’s expertise ran the gamut from organised crime-related assassination, extortion, illegal firearms to gang violence, and mafia-style criminal networks.  

The Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime explains that, before joining the organisation, she was involved in running the Network of Independent Monitors in violence-afflicted KwaZulu-Natal in the 1980s and, from 2009 to 2014, she led the Civilian Secretariat for Police Service.

Irish-Qhobosheane is survived by her sister, Sue Clarke, and brother, Tony Irish. DM