The Omaheke San have largely been able to follow their traditional lifestyle and as a result have been highly visible to anthropologists, state authorities and NGOs. The Dobe San by contrast no longer live in ways that conform with outsiders' stereotypes and therefore have become relatively invisible to those outsiders and have been marginalized as a result.

Both the Dobe San and the Omaheke San have been allowed to follow their traditional culture relatively unmolested by outsiders.