Firstly, you can just join a *A program so that wouldn't be a problem.

A LONE5 ex Australia is A$4299. The same from South Africa is A$3850. And for the difference you can't make it to South Africa. This is why normally the starting point for a LONEx doesn't matter that much. The savings are too low to justify the extra expense in many cases.
For a DONEx or AONEx the savings are in the thousands of Dollars so it is usually worth it.

However, if you want to look for cheaper places in the vicinity of Australia, a LONE5 ex NZ is only A$3350 and ex New Caledonia A$3650. So in those cases the cost of getting there is lower than the savings so it can make sense.