The CCLE was delighted to take part in the ERSA Conference on Shaping Digital Competition Policy and Regulation in South Africa, held on 11–12 December 2025 in Irene, Pretoria. The workshop drew together academics, practitioners, and policymakers for two days of lively discussion on the challenges of regulating digital markets — spanning platform dominance, data governance, mobile money, and merger control. Keynote addresses were delivered by Professor Maarten Pieter Schinkel (University of Amsterdam), James Hodge of the Competition Commission South Africa, and Professor Nicolas Petit of the European University Institute.
Professor Willem Boshoff, Katherine Stainton, and Thomas Janisch presented their paper on the removal of price-parity clauses in South African online intermediation platform markets, using the Booking.com settlement as a case study to examine the broader market implications of such regulatory interventions. Professor Boshoff and Katherine also responded to Professor Petit’s keynote, drawing on the MIH/WeBuyCars merger to interrogate entry concerns in South African merger control.
It was a rich two days of debate and exchange, and a welcome opportunity to engage with the growing community of scholars working on digital competition issues in the South African and African context. We look forward to seeing this work develop further.