Hmm, South Africa is not exempt, because they are not part of the Visa Waver program. (No country in Africa is part of that program, according to [1].)
SA had a stint of issues with illegitimate but real passport being issued via fraud so think it'll take a while till they make any 1st world waiver lists again
> Consistent with President Trump’s Executive Order on Addressing Egregious Actions of the Republic of South Africa, the Department of State is coordinating with the Department of Homeland Security to consider eligibility for U.S. refugee resettlement for people who are of Afrikaner ethnicity or a member of a racial minority in South Africa who are victims of government-sponsored race-based discrimination.
A lot of the folks in trump's cabinet are pro-apartheid white supremacists. they think white people in SA are the victims. Stephen Miller is a great example.
I'm not disagreeing with ya, just adding more context.
But Israel, which routinely denies entry (at the border, after flying halfway around the world!) to American citizens of Arab or Palestinian heritage in contravention of the rules and stipulations of the Visa Waiver Program, is (after Biden pushed to get them into the program).
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_Waiver_Program#:~:text=As...