GRAPHIC: Globalization: The Impact of Markets These men are gold miners--protesting against massive layoffs that have cost fifty thousand jobs and put a hundred thousand more at risk. They’re victims of the fall in the price of gold, largely a result of unregulated speculation in the gold market thousands of miles away. Finance Minister Trevor Manuel. TREVOR MANUEL: Issues of timing are exceedingly important. Some of the circumstances leading to the price fall last year could have been prevented. In 1997, false rumors spread that European Central bankers were about to sell their massive gold reserves. This sent gold prices plummeting. Central bankers didn’t sell, but they also didn’t use their powerful voices to quash the rumors. So, others sold and speculators rushed in to buy. With falling gold prices, thousands of South Africa's gold miners found themselves out of work. And those that remained faced an uncertain future in the weakened gold mining industry. Union leaders convened a summit to address the crisis. One of those invited was Bobby Godsell who represents the mine owners of South Africa. BOBBY GODSELL: I think everybody in this room is united by one powerful common interest-- we're here because of the crisis in the South African gold mining industry. Godsell placed blame on the gold speculators. GODSELL: Short terms speculators are making money on pushing the price of gold down on the threat of central bank action. Union leader Gwede Mantashe. GWEDE MANTASHE: We are losing 500 workers a day and that is actually a disaster. Gold and diamonds built the South African economy. For nearly a century, a poorly paid, mostly black work force labored miles under ground under dirty and dangerous conditions. One miner is said to have died for every ton of gold ripped out of the earth. The mineworkers were among the first to build a militant union to better their conditions. It became a driving force in the struggle against apartheid. But even the new democratic government the miners helped bring to power is almost powerless to help them. With over 32% unemployment, these are hard times at the mines. C. HUNTER-GAULT STANDUP: These men are standing in line to cash their monthly paychecks. Each makes on average about $130 per month for work deep down underground in these mines. But there is also great anxiety because none of these men is exactly sure just which of these paychecks is going to be his last. Miners accuse the owners of using the gold crisis as an excuse to shrink their labor force and to mechanize production in the name of global competitiveness. South African Deputy President Thabo Mbeki says his country is not unique. MBEKI: You are seeing a real consolidation of economic power in fewer and fewer hands. It's an outcome, a reflection of, and also a cause of this process of globalization. South Africa economist Azar Jamine says this trend is deepening inequality. AZAR JAMINE: There can be little doubt that the financial world internationally and in South Africa as well just doesn't seem to have any communication with the wants and aspirations of the people–the ordinary man in the street. They are totally engrossed in the quest for profit and I'm afraid to say that ultimately the backlash that may be encountered against the resultant increase in inequality could bring down the very financial wealth that is currently being created by a few. The gold crisis is only one of the downsides of globalization. TUTU: When there are millions starving, I think that there must be something fundamentally wrong. South Africa’s Nobel Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu adds a moral perspective. TUTU: I do not buy this whole business about the market, because the market isn't something that has got a total autonomy out there. The market is controlled and run by human beings. As South Africans seek a just balance between the market and morality, other Africans struggle against multi-national corporations-- another key force in the process of globalization.
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