Elon Musk’s father has revealed his son has installed new high-tech security measures at his South African home amid pervasive fears of kidnapping.
Errol Musk, a 76-year-old retired engineer, said contractors arrived at his home in Langebaan, 90 miles north of Cape Town, in December.
He said the new security measures were “top notch” – adding that he doesn’t like living in a fort but having lived in crime-ridden Johannesburg and Pretoria he was used to being barricaded.
Musk killed three armed intruders at his home in 1998 while his then six-year-old daughter Ali was clinging to his leg.
He told The Sun that in the last year alone his house has been broken into four times and TVs stolen.
“Honestly, the risk of something bad happening or literally getting shot is pretty big,” he said.
“I’m definitely not going to do open-air car parades, let me put it that way.
“It’s not that hard to kill me if someone wanted to, so hopefully they don’t do it.”
Errol Musk (right) said his billionaire son Elon (left) spent thousands of dollars to improve security at his home
Errol Musk, 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 fathered at least seven children by three different women – including two children with his 34-year-old stepdaughter Jana Bezuidenhuit – said he believes his son’s concerns were 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 put him at risk by exposing what he believes the US government collusion with the tech company to censor content.
He suspended an account that tracked his private jet and froze the accounts of journalists who retweeted his posts.
The 51-year-old claimed that chasing the jet led to a “crazy stalker” following a car carrying his young son X Æ A-12 in Los Angeles, describing the account as “basically assassination coordinates.”
On May 8, while the deal to buy Twitter was still finalized, he tweeted, “When I die under mysterious circumstances it was nice knowing you.”
Errol said his son sees him as vulnerable and worries kidnappers could make “the fastest $20 million ever” by targeting his family.
Errol Musk’s children Elon, Kimbal and Tosca (on his lap) with his first wife and Elon’s mother Maye
Errol is pictured holding his son Elon as a baby. The couple had a strained relationship at times, with Elon’s mother Maye divorcing Errol in 1979. Elon left South Africa at 17 and moved to Canada to start college in North America
“After the recent threats against him, he decided I needed protection too,” Errol told The Sun.
“If they kidnap one of us, it will be the fastest $20 million anyone has ever made in their life.
“I think Elon is a bit naïve when it comes to the enemies he’s making, especially with the Twitter files.
“I’m not scared, but I’m really scared that something could 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, electric fences and 24-hour surveillance by guards “armed to the teeth”.
He told the newspaper: “Elon’s people contacted me to let me know that they wanted to fully secure my house.
“I received a message from this security company in December that they had instructions to secure the house.
“I now have nine cameras throughout the house that are monitored 24/7 and which I can monitor on my phone and TV.
“They also installed an electric fence around my house.
“I have top-notch security now. It’s incredible.’
Errol Musk is pictured visiting his son in Boulder, Colorado in March 2014
Elon Musk is seen with his mother Maye at the 2017 Vanity Fair Oscar Party
He said it was backed by a generator so it would continue to function even if South Africa experienced one of its regular blackouts.
Errol said the system cost nearly $15,000 and his security agents are “armed to the teeth.”
He added: “They check me all the time. If they see a stranger’s car in my driveway, they’ll come in and ask me if I’m okay.
“I hate living like this, but I’ve lived like this in Johannesburg and Pretoria and I understand where that comes 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 years old.
Elon lived with his mother and left South Africa at the age of 17 to study in Canada.
Maye, now 70, lives in New York City — her ninth city in three countries.