Ezulwini – Senator Pholile Shakantu, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, stated that legislators can expect additional international legal instruments that will require their input.
Speaking at the end of the workshop for senators on the ratification of international legal instruments on Friday, the minister stated that senators were fully engaged in the process and made significant contributions with their recommendations on how the country should treat each of the 23 protocols that they went through in two days.
She praised the president of the Senate, Lindiwe Dlamini, the chairperson of her ministry’s portfolio committee, and the entire leadership team for their outstanding performance in the workshop. 
Shakantu stated that ratifying various treaties is typically a lengthy procedure for the country, but he appreciated the workshop’s ability to shorten such processes.
“We have confidence in the process because you have engaged and asked the right questions. We have also covered other areas but because we had not ratified, there were places we could not approach and the world could also not rank us appropriately,” she said.
She also acknowledged the background and the efforts made by relevant structures to bring these international regions and mechanisms to senators’ attention.
Shakantu stated that more of these appointments will be added, but that they would not be ready for the workshop since they were still being processed.
“So, we may expect to see some new instruments being tabled,” she said.
