Former social development director general Zane Dangor has accused minister Bathabile Dlamini of failing to heed his advice of "urgently" informing the Constitutional Court of the delays in dealing with the grants crisis.

Dangor's counsel Vincent Maleka on Thursday told Dlamini that his client would tell the inquiry that he had advised her that there was a need to "urgently" approach the court.

"Mr Dangor suggested that a firm plan be made to terminate Sassa's contract with CPS (Cash Paymaster Services)‚" Maleka said.

"Mr Dangor also advised that the Constitutional Court be approached urgently and informed of the delays in implementing a plan to administer social grants."

He said Dangor would tell the inquiry that Dlamini did not heed his warning. Dlamini is appearing before an inquiry into her role in the social grants saga. She has maintained that she is not to blame for the debacle.

The inquiry is a directive of the Constitutional Court‚ which last year ordered the investigation as a prerequisite for a ruling on Dlamini's culpability.

The court had in 2014 declared that the 2012 contract Sassa signed with CPS for the payment of social grants was invalid because of tender irregularities.

The court suspended its order of invalidity on the premise that Sassa would find new contractors to pay grants from April 1 2017‚ or that it would make payments on its own.

The Black Sash Trust had approached the court in March last year after Sassa acknowledged it would not be able to pay millions of grants from April 1‚ despite promising the court in November 2015 it would do so.