This contribution is not intended to be excessively legalistic, but it is necessary to note certain legal principles which may differentiate the South African legal system, and therefore our commentary, from many others… From the perspective of the rights holder or victim, seeking justice can be an empowering process – the rights holder becomes an active participant as opposed to a passive recipient in the protection, promotion and realisation, or respecting, of their human rights. What appears to simply be a formalistic process can therefore be used to address skewed power relations in societies…The Commission has sought to intervene and appear before other forums, such as tribunals, in order to promote the connections between business’ human rights obligations and what business may view as traditional commercial obligations in terms of, for example, competition law…The Commission’s advice to business concerning legal accountability is the following: where business engages with individuals and communities, especially in a developmental context concerning complaints of alleged human rights violations, people’s experiences should be recognised as real and authentic experiences which reflect their specifically situated challenges…