Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini and the South Africa Social Security Agency (Sassa) have until 3pm on Tuesday to explain to the Constitutional Court why they were late in filing replies to the court's questions the day before.
The court issued a direction on Tuesday morning asking Sassa's acting CEO Wiseman Magasela and Dlamini to file their affidavits on this in the next few hours.
Dlamini's lawyer has admitted to filing the papers more than six hours after Monday's 4pm deadline, but said they would apply for a condonation - something to excuse the lateness.
The court last week asked for details about why the department wanted to continue with Cash Paymaster Services to pay social grants after the end of the month, even though the court ruled the contract invalid.
Meanwhile, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan explained to Parliament's public accounts committee, Scopa, that the CPS contract could not continue and that the circumstances were not right to go through an emergency tender process.
He also outlined the alternatives to CPS.