The baby he fathered by his own step-daughter was as the result of a one-off 'mistake', Errol Musk – the South African father of the tech billionaire Elon Musk, has revealed.

The 72-year-old has been accused of bringing 'shame on the family' by his ex-wife and mother of Jana Bezuidenhout who is 42 years younger than the wealthy businessman.

Errol disclosed that his sixth child, Elliot Rush, was conceived 'in the heat of the moment' after Jana had been thrown out by her boyfriend.

Billionaire Elon Musk's estranged father has had a baby with his own stepdaughter who is 42 years his junior, MailOnline revealed

Errol Musk, 72, father of the Tesla Motors chief, has a 10-month-old baby boy called Elliot Rush Musk with his stepdaughter Jana Bezuidenhout, 30 (pictured)

'I do not want to call it a mistake because no child wants to hear that they were a mistake,' he told Rapport newspaper.

'It happened one evening when Jana's boyfriend threw her out of the house and she had slept over at my house. You have to understand – I've been single for 20 years and I'm just a man who makes mistakes.'

He said Jana and their son now lived on the same property as him, in Langebaan, an hour outside Cape Town, but they are not in a relationship.

The extraordinary revelation by MailOnline last week offered an explanation for the bitter family feud that has engulfed one of the world's richest families.

Errol was branded 'evil' and 'a terrible human being' by Elon Musk, the Tesla Motors chief, who said his father had done 'almost every evil thing you can possibly think of'.

Thirty-year-old Jana's mother, Heidi-Mari Musk described her former husband as 'a bad man' who had 'ruined everything' for the family.

Jana (pictured) was four years old when Errol married her mother, Heide. Errol's relationship with Jana is said to be one of the reasons he is estranged from his billionaire son, Elon

Jana is pictured here last year with her mother Heide cradling Elliot Musk, who is the baby son of her former husband and her daughter. Next to them is her daughter with Errol, Asha Muak

Jana (pictured) lived with Elon when she was growing up. Heide, his second wife, was a widow with three young children when she met Errol. Her first husband died in a car crash and Errol helped raise her little ones Jock junior, Jana and Harry

'He has caused an incredible amount of pain for me and his children and now brought shame on the family again. We are furious that he could make his own stepchild pregnant. And that he blows it out for the world.

'We have tried to get peace in our hearts, but he has now ruined everything,' she told the newspaper.

Heide, his second wife, was a widow with three young children when she met Errol. Her first husband died in a car crash and Errol helped raise her little ones Jock junior, Jana and Harry.

Errol already had three children of his own from his first marriage to High School sweetheart, the model and socialite Maye Haldeman – Elon, his brother Kimbal and sister Tosca. Errol and Heide had two daughters called Alexandra 'Ali' Musk and Asha 'Rose' Musk.

Errol is pictured here holding his son Elon as a baby. He says he gave Elon and his two siblings a luxury upbringing in Pretoria before Elon earned his first billion dollars at the age of 30

Elon Musk stands beside a rocket on March 19, 2004 in El Segundo, Los Angeles. He is worth £20 billion and launched a Tesla car into space - but has not spoken to his father for 18 months

In a recent interview Errol (pictured) admitted that his 30-year-old girlfriend 'Jana' had given birth to his baby, although he failed to disclose that she was his stepdaughter

Asked for his response to Heide's criticism, Errol today said he found it strange that she had lashed out at him, claiming that she begged him to take her back 'every month'.

Elon, the 46-year-old SpaceX founder who has a £20 billion fortune, reportedly went 'berserk' when he learned that his step-sister Jana, who lived with him as a youngster, was having his father's child.

The space explorer spared no punches in an interview with American Rolling Stone magazine about his feelings towards his father.

'He was such a terrible human being, you have no idea,' he said with tears running down his face.

'My dad will have a carefully thought-out plan of evil. He will plan evil. Almost every crime you can possibly think of, he has done. Almost every evil thing you could possibly think of, he has done. It's so terrible, you can't believe it.'