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.