Mbhazima Samuel (Sam) Shilowa, correct Tsonga spelling "Xilowa" (born 30 April 1958) is a South African politician. A former

Premier of Gauteng The Premier of Gauteng is the head of government of the Gauteng province of South Africa. The current Premier of Gauteng is Panyaza Lesufi, a member of the African National Congress, who was elected on 6 October 2022, following the resignation o ...

province while a member of the

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a Social democracy, social-democratic political party in Republic of South Africa, South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when ...

, Shilowa left the party to help form the opposition Congress of the People, with whom he was briefly the Deputy President. In the 2009 general election, Shilowa was elected to parliament with COPE.

Early life

Shilowa was born at

Olifantshoek Olifantshoek is a town in John Taolo Gaetsewe District Municipality in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa. The village is 60 km northwest of Postmasburg and 80 km southwest of Kuruman. It developed from a police post and is a ...

in what is now called the

Limpopo Province Limpopo is the northernmost Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The capital and largest city in the province is Polokwane, while th ...

and completed his secondary education at Akani High School in

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

. The following year he moved to

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

to seek employment and started working at John Weinberg Hardware in

Germiston Germiston, also known as kwaDukathole, is a small city in the East Rand region of Gauteng, South Africa, administratively forming part of the City of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality since the latter's establishment in 2000. It functions as ...

. He then moved to Anglo Alpha Cement in

Roodepoort Roodepoort is a town in the Gauteng province of South Africa. Formerly an independent municipality, Roodepoort became part of the Johannesburg municipality in the late 1990s, along with Randburg and Sandton. Johannesburg's most famous botanical g ...

and later joined PSG Services in

Trade Unions

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

, 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 The South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (SATAWU) is a trade union in South Africa. History In the late 1990s, the South African Railways and Harbours Union (SARHWU) and Transport and General Workers' Union (South Africa), Transport ...

. Shilowa played a prominent role in the formation of the

Congress of South African Trade Unions The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) is a trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions ...

(COSATU) in

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

and was elected Deputy Chairperson of COSATU’s Gauteng region. In

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

, he was elected Deputy General Secretary of COSATU and in

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

became the General Secretary. Shilowa then played a huge role in the forming of the

National Economic Development and Labour Council National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

(NEDLAC) which established close co-operation between government, organized labour and business. He was part of the

' negotiating team at the

Convention for a Democratic South Africa Convention may refer to: * Convention (norm), a custom or tradition, a standard of presentation or conduct ** Treaty, an agreement in international law * Convention (meeting), meeting of a (usually large) group of individuals and/or companies in ...

(CODESA) negotiations in

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

which led to the writing of South Africa’s democratic constitution. In

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

, Shilowa became a member of the African National Congress and on 15 June 1999 he was elected Premier of

Gauteng Province Gauteng ( ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name in Sotho-Tswana languages means 'place of gold'. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts for only 1. ...

and had to give up his post as General Secretary of COSATU.

Resignation

On 29 September 2008, soon after the

South African President The president of South Africa is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of South Africa. The president heads the executive branch of the Government of South Africa and is the commander-in-chief of the South African Natio ...

Thabo Mbeki Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki KStJ (; born 18 June 1942) is a South African politician who was the second president of South Africa from 14 June 1999 to 24 September 2008, when he resigned at the request of his party, the African National Congress (ANC ...

was forced out of office, Mbhazima handed in his resignation as premier. He was succeeded by

Paul Mashatile Paul Shipokosa Mashatile (born 21 October 1961) is a South African politician who is currently the Deputy President of the governing African National Congress (ANC). Before his election to that position in December 2022, he was ANC Treasurer Ge ...

. Shilowa later resigned from the ANC and announced his support for

Mosiuoa Lekota Mosiuoa Gerard Patrick Lekota (born 13 August 1948) is a South African politician, who currently serves as the President and Leader of the Congress of the People since 16 December 2008. Previously as a member of the African National Congress, ...

's movement for a national congress.

Deputy President of COPE

On 16 December,

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, Shilowa was elected Deputy President of the Congress of the People by a landslide vote. His election as First Deputy President entails that he is Executive Deputy President, alongside former businesswomen Lynda Odendaal, who carries the title of Second Deputy President, which means that she is the more ceremonial deputy. On 22 April,

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

, the day of the 2009 general elections, Shilowa duly voted for his new party, declaring to friends on his ''

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

'' page:

I voted for the future I desire and for a party that I believe will take forward my aspirations. I voted for change, a party of HOPE for today and tomorrow. I voted for the government of the people. I voted COPE .../blockquote> Earlier he had written:
Today I cast my vote for a party born out of our new democracy and constitution - Cope. I stood on the quee for an hour to vote. I used the time to talk to ordinary men and women about everything from Cope, the
weather Weather is the state of the atmosphere, describing for example the degree to which it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloudy. On Earth, most weather phenomena occur in the lowest layer of the planet's atmosphere, the ...
,
religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...
etc. Go out and vote for hope and change. Do not forget to get your family, friends and neighbours to go and vote for Cope.

Expulsion
Lekota expelled Shilowa from the party after an internal hearing found him guilty of mismanaging parliamentary funds. He was found guilty of wrongfully authorising the transfer of R5m from the parliamentary allowance accounts to Cope's party accounts, and authorising a payment of more than R2m for purposes that were not legitimate. Shilowa has denied the charges and is challenging his expulsion in court.

Personal life
He belongs to the
Tsonga Tsonga may refer to: * Tsonga language, a Bantu language spoken in southern Africa * Tsonga people, a large group of people living mainly in southern Mozambique and South Africa. * Jo-Wilfried Tsonga Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (; born 17 April 1985) i ...
tribe and the appropriate spelling of his surname is "Xilowa". He has two children.

References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shilowa, Sam 1958 births Living people African National Congress politicians Congress of the People (South African political party) politicians Members of the National Assembly of South Africa People from Makhado Local Municipality Premiers of Gauteng Tsonga people