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Mbhazima Samuel (Sam) Shilowa (b 30 April 1958) is the Premier of Gauteng Province, South Africa.
Shilowa was born at Olifantshoek in what is now called the Limpopo Province and completed his secondary education at Akani High School in 1978. The following year he moved to Johannesburg to seek employment and started working at John Weinberg Hardware in Germiston. He then moved to Anglo Alpha Cement in Roodepoort and later joined PSG Services in Johannesburg. In 1981, Shilowa joined the trade union movement and became a shop steward fighting for better working conditions and defending the rights of his fellow workers. He was elected Vice-President and later President of the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union.
Shilowa played a prominent role in the formation of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) in 1985 and was elected Deputy Chairperson of COSATU’s Gauteng region. In 1991, he was elected Deputy General Secretary of COSATU and in 1993 became the General Secretary. Shilowa then played a huge role in the forming of the National Economic Development and Labour Council (NEDLAC) which established close co-operation between government, organized labour and business. He was part of the African National Congress' negotiating team at the Convention for a Democratic South Africa (CODESA) negotiations in 1992 which led to the writing of South Africa’s democratic constitution.
In 1997, Shilowa became a member of the African National Congress and on the 15 June 1999 he was elected Premier of Gauteng Province and had to give up his post as General Secretary of COSATU. He is currently serving his second term as Premier of Gauteng.
