Elon Musk’s father has revealed that his son has installed new high-tech security measures at his South African home, amid the ever-present fear of kidnapping.
Errol Musk, a 76-year-old retired engineer, said that contractors arrived at his home in Langebaan, 90 miles north of Cape Town, in December.
He said the new security measures were ‘first class’ – adding that he did not like living in a fortress, but, having lived in crime-ridden Johannesburg and Pretoria, he was used to being barricaded in.
Musk in 1998 killed three armed intruders at his home, while his then six-year-old daughter Ali clung to his leg.
He told The Sun that, in the last year alone, his home had been broken into four times, and televisions stolen.
‘Frankly, the risk of something bad happening or literally even being shot is quite significant,’ he said.
‘I’m definitely not going to be doing any open-air car parades, let me put it that way.
‘It’s not that hard to kill me if somebody wanted to, so hopefully they don’t.’
Errol Musk (right) said his billionaire son Elon (left) has spent thousands of dollars to upgrade the security at his home
Errol Musk, a father of seven, lives north of Cape Town, in Langebaan
Errol Musk is pictured at his home in May 2022. He was born in Pretoria, and worked as an engineer
Errol, who has fathered at least seven children to three different women – including having had two children with his 34-year-old stepdaughter, Jana Bezuidenhuit – said he believed his son’s concern was sparked by his new ownership of Twitter.
Errol Musk has two children with his 34-year-old stepdaughter Jana Bezuidenhout
Elon Musk said last month that he believes his efforts to make the platform more transparent puts him at risk, because he is exposing what he believes to be U.S. government collusion with the tech firm to censor content.
He suspended an account that tracked his private jet, and froze the accounts of journalists who retweeted its posts.
The 51-year-old claimed that the tracking of the jet led to a ‘crazy stalker’ following a car carrying his young son, X Æ A-12, in Los Angeles, and described the account as posting ‘basically assassination coordinates.’
On May 8, while the deal to purchase Twitter was still being agreed, he tweeted: ‘If I die under mysterious circumstances, it’s been nice knowin ya.’
Errol said his son saw him as vulnerable, and feared that kidnappers could make the ‘quickest $20million dollars ever’ by targeting his family.
Errol Musk’s children Elon, Kimbal and Tosca (on lap) with his first wife and Elon’s mother, Maye
Errol is pictured holding his son Elon as a baby. The pair have at times had a strained relationship, with Elon’s mother Maye divorcing Errol in 1979. Elon left South Africa when was 17 and moved to Canada to begin college in North America
‘He decided, after the recent threats against him, that I need protection as well,’ Errol told The Sun.
‘If they kidnap one of us, it will be the quickest $20million anybody’s ever made in their life.
‘I think Elon’s a bit naïve about the enemies he’s making, especially with the Twitter Files.
‘I’m not scared but I’m really afraid that something might happen to Elon, even though he has about 100 security guards around him.’
Errol said his own home in the Western Cape now has a high-tech camera system, electrified fencing, and around-the-clock monitoring by guards who are ‘armed to the teeth.’
He told the paper: ‘Elon’s people contacted me to say they wanted to completely secure my house.
‘I got a notice in December from this security company saying that they have instructions to secure the house.
‘So I now have nine cameras around the house that are monitored 24/7 and that I can monitor on my phone and TV.
‘They’ve also installed an electric fence around my house.
‘I have first-class security now. It’s unbelievable.’
Errol Musk is pictured in March 2014, visiting his son in Boulder, Colorado
Elon Musk is seen with his mother Maye at the 2017 Vanity Fair Oscar Party
He said it was backed up by a generator, so would still work even when South Africa experienced one of its regular blackouts.
Errol said the system cost almost $15,000, and his security agents were ‘armed to the teeth.’
He added: ‘They check on me all the time. If they see a strange car in my driveway, they come in and ask me if I’m alright.
‘I hate living like this, but I’ve lived like this in Johannesburg and Pretoria, and I understand where it’s coming from.’
Elon’s relationship with his father is decidedly more distant than with his mother Maye, with whom Elon is frequently spotted.
Maye Musk divorced Errol in 1979, when Elon was eight.
Elon lived with his mother, and aged 17 left South Africa to study in Canada.
Maye, now 70, lives in New York City – her ninth city, in three countries.
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