‘Armed to the teeth’ guards, electric fences and high-tech cameras: Musk’s father reveals security
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Elon Musk’s father has revealed that his son has installed new high-tech security measures at his South African home amid constant fear of kidnapping.
Errol Musk, a 76-year-old retired engineer, said the 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 barricades.
Musk in 1998 killed three armed intruders in his home, while his then-six-year-old daughter Ali clung to his leg.
He said 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 getting shot is pretty significant,” he said.
‘I’m definitely not doing any outdoor car parades, let me put it that way.
‘It’s not that hard to kill me if someone wanted to, so I hope they don’t.’
Errol Musk (right) said his billionaire son Elon (left) has spent thousands of dollars to improve the security of his home.
Errol Musk, father of seven children, lives north of Cape Town, in Langebaan
Errol Musk at home in May 2022. He was born in Pretoria and worked as an engineer.
Errol, who has fathered at least seven children by three different women, including fathering 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 stepdaughter Jana Bezuidenhout, 34.
Elon Musk said last month that he believes his efforts to make the platform more transparent put him at risk, because he is exposing what he believes is 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 tracking the plane led to a “crazy stalker” following a car carrying his young son, X Æ A-12, in Los Angeles, describing the account as “basically murder coordinates.”
On May 8, while the deal to buy Twitter was still closing, he tweeted: “If I die under mysterious circumstances, it was nice meeting you.”
Errol said his son viewed him as vulnerable and feared the kidnappers could make the “quickest $20 million in history” 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 couple have had a strained relationship at times, as Elon’s mother Maye divorced Errol in 1979. Elon left South Africa when he was 17 and moved to Canada to start university in North America.
“He decided, after the recent threats against him, that I too need protection,” Errol told The Sun.
‘If one of us is kidnapped, it will be the fastest $20 million anyone has ever made.
“I think Elon is a bit naive about the enemies he’s making for himself, especially with the Twitter files.
“I’m not scared, but I’m really scared that something could happen to Elon, even though he has around 100 security guards.”
Errol said his own home in the Western Cape now has a high-tech camera system, electrified fences and 24-hour surveillance by guards who are ‘armed to the teeth’.
He told the newspaper: ‘The people from Elon contacted me to say they wanted to fully insure my house.
‘I got a notice in December from this security company saying they have instructions to secure the house.
‘So now I have nine cameras in the house that are monitored 24/7 that I can monitor on my phone and TV.
‘They also installed an electric fence around my house.
‘I have first class security now. Is incredible.’
Errol Musk is pictured in March 2014, visiting his son in Boulder, Colorado.
Elon Musk with his mother Maye at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party 2017
He said it was backed up by a generator, so it would keep running even when South Africa experienced one of its regular blackouts.
Errol said the system cost almost $15,000 and that his security officers were “armed to the teeth.”
He added: ‘They control me all the time. If they see a strange car in my driveway, they 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 it comes from.”
Elon’s relationship with his father is decidedly more distant than with his mother Maye, with whom Elon is frequently seen.
Maye Musk divorced Errol in 1979, when Elon was eight years old.
Elon lived with his mother and at the age of 17 left South Africa to study in Canada.
Maye, now 70, lives in New York City, her ninth city, in three countries.