Fact Check: No, this photograph DOES NOT show Elon Musk’s childhood in apartheid South Africa

Tech mogul and Twitter owner Elon Musk recently criticised South African political leader Julius Malema after the latter was seen chanting “Kill the Boer” at a stadium in Johannesburg. The words hark back to South Africa’s apartheid era, characterised by race-based segregation under white minority rule, which ended in the early 1990s.

Musk accused Malema of promoting "genocide" of white people through the song, while Malema retorted by labelling Musk as “illiterate.”

In its aftermath, a photo of a white woman and a white child sitting on an armchair and a black woman sitting on the floor next to them went viral. Allegedly this was the childhood photo of Musk, who was born in South Africa and left the country as a teenager. Sharing the photo on Facebook, a person wrote, “Elon Musk Life in South Africa, Pretoria whilst a Boy during Apartheid.”

India Today found that the photo in question is not of Elon Musk at all. It was captured in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 1988, when Musk was a lot older.

Our Probe

Using a reverse search on Google, we found a black-and-white version of the same photograph on the official website of the US National Gallery Of Art. According to information provided on this site, the photo was taken in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 1988, and featured a mother and daughter and their maid.

We also found the same photograph at the Harvard Art Museums website with the same description. According to these sources, the photo was shot by American photographer Rosalind Solomon. The photograph was also featured in an interview with Rosalind Solomon by Vulture, published on October 28, 2021. None of these reports revealed the identity of the family seen in the photograph.

Musk was born on June 28, 1971, in Pretoria, South Africa. In 1988, he would have been around 17. However, the child seen in the photo looks much younger.

Furthermore, we found a video on YouTube from September 25, 2020, showcasing Solomon’s works. The video, titled "Rosalind Fox Solomon: The Trajectory of My Life and Work," features the same photo at around the 33-minute mark, highlighting Solomon’s work in South Africa between 1988 and 1990.

An article by the Observer, published on January 18, 2020, showcased photos from various stages of Musk’s life. One of these photos was taken on Musk’s 18th birthday in 1989. This photo of Musk clearly differs from the child in the viral photograph.

It is hence clear that the photo in question is not a childhood photo of Elon Musk, but rather depicts an unnamed mother-daughter duo and their maid, shot in 1988 during apartheid in South Africa.