Errol Musk started looking after his stepdaughter when she was four. Now they have two kids together.

Billionaire businessman Elon Musk's unique approach to fathering children seems to run in the family.

In 2022, his father, Errol Musk, announced that he had welcomed a second child with Jana Bezuidenhout, his former stepdaughter, who he raised from the age of four.

Watch Elon Musk's monologue on Saturday Night Live. Post continues below.

Born and raised in Pretoria, South Africa, Errol Musk met and fell in love with Maye — a model and dietician. The pair had three children together throughout the '70s — eldest Elon, son Kimbal, and daughter Tosca.

According to Elon, Errol has an extremely high IQ and was supposedly the youngest person to get a professional engineer's qualification in South Africa.

In 1980, Maye and Errol divorced. Errol's two sons Elon and Kimbal moved in with him in the wake of their parent's split — and looking back on that decision, Elon has said it was "not a good idea".

"I was sad for my father. But I didn't really understand at the time what kind of person he was. He was such a terrible human being. You have no idea," Elon told Rolling Stone.

"You have no idea about how bad. Almost every crime you can possibly think of, he has done. Almost every evil thing you could possibly think of, he has done."

Errol said in a profile interview with Forbes, that his kid's childhood was idyllic.

"We travelled a lot in those days, their mother and I split up when they were quite young and the kids stayed with me. I took them all over the world. Elon was generally in the back seat. Kimbal, my other son who is just as energetic as Elon, would do all the guiding and navigating."

As for Elon, he reflects on his childhood differently.

"I was raised by books. Books, and then my parents. My dad would have a carefully thought-out plan of evil. He would plan evil," Elon said.

"My dad was not physically violent with me. He was only physically violent when I was very young. It's so terrible, you can't believe it," Elon said, the journalist noting that Elon was crying while sharing his side of the story.

In response to the allegations, Errol said in a statement to Rolling Stone: "I've been accused of being a Gay, a Misogynist, a Paedophile, a Traitor, a Rat, a S**t (quite often), a Bastard (by many women whose attentions I did not return) and much more. My own (wonderful) mother told me I am 'ruthless' and should learn to be more 'humane'. I love my children and would readily do whatever for them."

Errol Musk, Elon Musk, and Maye Musk. Image: Getty/Instagram.

After divorcing Maye, Errol married Heide Bezuidenhout, a fellow South African in 1992.

At the time, Heide had a child from her first marriage — a four-year-old daughter called Jana. So when Errol and Heide married, Errol became a stepfather to Jana.

Errol and Heide went on to have two daughters together: Rose and Alexandra.

For the next 18 years, Errol and Heide remained a couple and raised the three girls. But in 2010, they decided to split.

Then in 2017, some shocking news was made public. Errol and Jana — Errol's stepdaughter — were expecting a baby together. A few months later, they welcomed their baby, called Elliot.

In an interview with The Sunday Times, Errol said he and Jana had reconnected in 2016.

"We were lonely, lost people," he told the newspaper. "One thing led to another. You can call it God's plan or nature's plan."

In the interview, Errol said he did not consider Jana, now 30, as his stepdaughter, because she was "raised away" from the family for long periods of time, likely referring to her stint in boarding school.

Then soon after the arrival of Elliot, a baby girl came along too. Errol only confirmed the news about his second child with Jana in an interview with The Sun UK.

There is a 41-year age gap between Jana and Errol.

"She [the baby] looks just like my other daughters. She looks like Rose and Tosca mixed up. She looks exactly like [Elliot] and she behaves like him. She wasn't planned. But I mean, we were living together. She [Jana] stayed here for about 18 months after [Elliot] was born. But I realised she [Jana] is two generations behind whereas her mother was one generation behind when I married her," he said.

"So any man who marries a woman, even if you feel very sprightly, it's going to be nice for a while. But there's a big gap… And that gap is going to show itself. I married her mother when she was 25 and I was 45. She was probably one of the best-looking women I've ever seen in my life," he said about Jana's mother.

Jana. Image: Instagram.

Errol confirmed in the interview that he no longer lives with Jana, nor does he see his two kids with her regularly. When approached by The Sun, Jana declined to comment.

Errol ended with this: "The only thing we are on Earth for is to reproduce. If I could have another child I would. I can't see any reason not to. If I had thought about it, then Elon or Kimbal wouldn't exist."

As for how his biological kids feel about the fact Errol has had children with Jana? He says they were not pleased.

His daughters Tosca, Rose and Alexandra were "shocked" by his relationship with Jana, because understandably "to them it was their sister".

He added: "And they still don't like it. They still feel a bit creepy about it, because she's their sister. Their half-sister."

Elon was reported to have gone "berserk" when he found out his dad was having a child with Jana — who lived with Elon and his family for periods during her childhood.

The Tesla billionaire has since reflected on his relationship with Errol, saying they are not in a good place.

"In my experience, there is nothing you can do," he says about finally learning the lesson that his dad will never change. "Nothing, nothing. I wish. I've tried everything. I tried threats, rewards, intellectual arguments, emotional arguments, everything to try to change my father for the better, and he… no way, it just got worse."

In total, Errol has seven children. The 78-year-old still has fewer children than son Elon, who now has 11.

Errol has also confirmed he has little to do with his grandchildren.

"There are several illegitimate grandchildren, so-called you might say... I have to count them," he said. "I saw one of my grandsons on TV last night on YouTube. And I didn't realise it was one of my grandsons talking. I was listening to this guy, and I'm thinking, why does he sound so familiar? And then I see oh, gee, it's one of my grandsons."

If this post brings up any issues for you, you can contact Bravehearts (an organisation providing support to victims of child abuse) here.

This article was originally published in July 2022, and has since been updated with new information.

Feature Image: Getty/Mamamia.

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