Not necessarily true anymore. Blink's first reunion gigs should have been in South America, Foo Fighters are playing there just a few months after their new album comes out. Queens of The Stone Age literally debuted a new song (their best in a decade imho) in SA in 2013. Coldplay just played 11 dates (!) in Brazil alone.
Green Day is one of the few big artists out there that still don't do proper touring in SA, which is a shame.