The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD). They are mediating the two conflicting sides. IGAD is the group that set up the deadline for March 5th 2015. The goal that IGAD wanted to reach was to reach a comprehensive peace agreement to end the nearly 15-month long conflict in Sudan.
Salva Kiir, South Sudan's president and current rebel leader Riek Machar, Salva's former deputy, resumed direct negotiations on Tuesday. They held the closed door meeting till late night hours. They discussed critical issues. Focusing mainly on the structure of the transitional government, power sharing ratios, as well as on the composition of the national legislature and transitional security arrangements.
A rebel source close to the meeting said " that the gap was still wide as president Kiir continued to reject adoption and implementation of federal system of governance and separation of the two rival armies or phased amalgamation during the transitional period"
After meeting Kiir and Machar earlier, Ethiopian prime minister, Hailemariam Desalegn, urged the two leaders to expeditiously address the outstanding issues and take tough decisions to strike a final peace settlement to the crises. Considering previously failed deadlines and existing gaps on contentious issues observers suspect that the parties may instead ask IGAD to extend the 5 March deadline in which failure may lead to sanctions threatened by the IGAD.
Here are links to more infomation on what is going on in South Sudan:
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=50231#.VPiv8Pm-2m4
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/03/world/africa/for-the-us-and-china-a-test-of-diplomacy-on-south-sudan.html?_r=0
http://www.theafricareport.com/East-Horn-Africa/south-sudan-warring-parties-near-deal.html