• The Eastern Cape provincial government has now introduced the LITS project in the province.
• The system was proposed in 2017, and sees ear tags on livestock that can transmit animal health and position to farmers digitally.
• The local government hopes the tags can curb livestock theft that costs the Eastern Cape economy millions.

The theft of cattle and other livestock from farms in the Eastern Cape of South Africa reportedly costs independent rural farmers in the areas millions of Rands per year. To begin fighting the stock theft and trace cattle after they have been stolen, the local government has introduced a tech solution.

This solution is called LITS, the Livestock Identification and Traceability System. The initiative represents a government collaboration with private companies and was initially proposed in 2017.

LITS was launched in the Eastern Cape this week, by the province’s premier Oscar Mabuyane, who was joined by Rural Development and Agrarian Reform (DRDAR) MEC Nonkqubela Pieters and Transport, Community Safety and Liaison MEC, Xolile Nqatha.

The technology is actually a series of ear tag devices that can be traced, and are being donated by the government to 120 small cattle farms in the province. It claims, as per SA News, that over 30 000 cattle in the Eastern Cape will be tagged with LITS in the hopes of curbing theft.

Over 18 000 livestock have been stolen from small farms across the province in recent months, with a value of over R58 million.

“You can imagine what that is doing to the economy. When you talk about the province being the home of livestock, you are talking about subsistence rural farmers. We have a problem of livestock theft, and it has been with us for some time now. We are trying to tackle that,” said the premier at the launch of LITS in the province.

“We are trying to introduce a more organised and commercial way of handling these animals. This is part of us trying to fight and curb livestock theft. We are sending a message to all the thieves out there that we will go after you in a better and more organised manner.”

The LITS system is set to be rolled out across the province and is quite comprehensive. According to the government’s initial proposal for LITS (PDF), it said that the system could combat stock theft because the tags collect data from the animal “based on animal’s health, movement and age” which creates “a bio of your livestock, which could be sent directly to the phone, email or via post by request.”

If a criminal was to steal an animal and forcefully remove the LITS tag on its ear, animal owners will be notified of this immediately to their cell phone by a server, reporting that communication has been lost.

But the LITS system can also detect diseased animals, and trace the origin of outbreaks which occasionally affect South Africa’s livestock industry. A bird flu outbreak in 2023 sent the prices of eggs soaring to near-unfathomable heights. The LITS system could make the time between when the outbreak is detected and put under control far less.

DRDAR is the entity in charge of the national rollout of LITS, and maintains the servers that coordinate LITS data from livestock and back to farmers. As of right now, over 250 veterinarians, scientists, animal health technicians and extension advisors have been trained by DRDAR to lead the implementation of the LITS system across the country.

[Image – Photo by Daniel Quiceno M on Unsplash]