Wow, I didn’t think things would get this messy between Elon Musk and his father, Errol.

Just the other day we learnt how Errol was able to rake in the cash after he bought into an emerald mine in Zambia.

The story sparked an all-round digging up of Musk’s November interview with Rolling Stone, in which Elon described his father as “evil” and “a terrible human being”.

Read all about that here.

Errol has now come out swinging, speaking from his Pretoria home on Sunday, reports Daily Telegraph :

“Elon needs to grow up,” Errol said. “He needs to get over himself. I’m not going to hit back. I’m going to wait until he comes to his senses. He’s having a tantrum, like a spoilt child. He can’t have what he wants and now I am apparently an evil monster.”

Okay, Errol.

He went on to explain that Elon’s comments were made at a time when he was “emotionally fragile”, following his breakup with Amber Heard.

Breaking it down into two events, Errol speculated that the first thing that shook Elon was his “father’s decision to move back to South Africa in 2004”, taking it as a “personal insult and sparking their falling out”:

“[That was] the first so-called terrible thing I did,” he said. “Elon is upset with me. He is furious that he can’t force me to love America the way he does. I refuse to live there. I tried it, and came back home.”

He described Elon’s fury at his decision to move back to South Africa as “tantrum number one”. Tantrum number two – the pregnancy:

“I got my 30-year-old girlfriend Jana pregnant and we had a baby son, who is now 10 months old,” he said. “Of course, I love him dearly, even though it wasn’t planned. In my own cautious way I insisted on a DNA test to ensure he was mine.

“I told my daughter Ali about him because I thought she would be supportive and understanding. She said I was insane, mentally ill. She told the others and they went berserk.

“They think I’m getting senile and should go into an old age home, not have a life full of fun and a tiny baby.

“He describes me as terrible. But there are many things he doesn’t know — the work I did to lessen the effects of apartheid for so many years.

“I’d rather be in my home country, South Africa, with all its violent crime than live in the budgie cage of America.”

Following Elon’s comments that Errol is a terrible person, Errol responded saying he had “never threatened or hurt anyone or been charged with a crime”, EXCEPT when he shot and killed three out of five or six armed intruders who broke into his home.

What’s it with Pretoria men and their guns?

Errol was later acquitted after pleading self-defence:

“I was at home with my daughter Rosie, and the breaking of glass woke us up. I did what I had to do and we somehow escaped unhurt,” Errol told The Mail, in an interview published at the weekend.

“That’s the only so-called terrible thing I’ve ever had to do. Maybe that’s what Elon is referring to. I’m not an evil person. I have nothing to regret. I’m just a father who loves his son — and all his children — and is happy to know they are safe and healthy and secure.”

But he didn’t stop there. Errol explained how he and his first wife Maye brought up their three children, Elon, Kimbal and Tosca, in luxury:

“I drove them to school in a convertible Rolls-Royce Corniche, they had thoroughbred horses to ride and motorbikes at the age of 14,” he said. “They were spoilt, I suppose. Maybe that’s why Elon is acting like a spoilt child now.”

You said it, Errol, not us.

I’m still confused, though – didn’t he say something about not hitting back?

I think Errol is jealous that he hasn’t been able to hit the billionaire mark yet.

[source:dailytelegraph]