The Union was established with the South Africa Treaty (SAT) on 18 August 2002 in response to the establishment of the African Union, which denied the Republic or any of the homelands (which are de jure independent states) entry into the continental alliance. The African Union allowed Lesotho and Swaziland - which never formed part of what is the Republic of South Africa - to join but condemned their participation in the USAS. Lesotho and Swaziland, which are more independent from South Africa proper in relative comparison to the homelands have been economically dependent on their Afrikaner controlled neighbor for decades, which essentially forced them to join the USAS.