Factional fights within ANC now playing out in State - Analyst

It comes amid the latest development in the Sassa payment crisis. 

Social Development director general Zane Dangor has resigned from the department.

It's reportedly due to disagreements with management on the process of paying social grants on 1 April. 

Brown says the resignation indicates the fight by Zuma allies with Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan has entered government work.

"The factional fights in the ANC is now playing itself out in the State with 17million South Africans' lives at risk," Brown says. 

She believes Dlamini together with the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) sat on their hands, failing to devise a plan to ensure the payment of social grants on 1 April. 

"They failed to work on a plan to ensure they get the grants in accordance with the stipulations of the highest court in the land," Brown says. "Treasury is now having to defend and insist on a legal process which will allow government to disperse these monies."

Brown insists Dlamini was intending to use Cash Payment Services (CPS) to issue the social grants all along. 

According to a statement by the Social Development Department late last night, Sassa reached a new agreement with CPS.

It comes after the Constitutional Court ruled the current agreement invalid back in 2014. 

The new agreement comes after three days of tense negotiations between the department, Sassa and CPS. 

While it is still unclear whether the new agreement is in line with the court's findings, the statement says Dlamini will brief the media on the new details in coming days.