Workers in financial distress who hope for early access to a portion of their retirement savings while still employed will not be able to do so until at least 2022, the Treasury said.

In a statement on Wednesday that sought to clarify a proposal to allow partial pre-retirement access to pensions during emergencies or extraordinary circumstances, the government also said SA’s largest pension pool, the R1.9-trillion Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF), will be excluded from the proposal...