SAnews reports the figure announced by Commission Chairperson Mosotho Moepya. It counts people who voted, distinct from the roughly 2.6 million approved special-vote applications.
Voting took place at stations and through home visits. Channel Africa also describes the completion of this advance phase.
Ballots are stored for counting with those from the main election after stations close. This participation count is therefore no election result or indication of a party’s victory.