At 17, Musk went to Canada mainly to avoid mandatory military service in South Africa. In 1988, South Africa was still in the apartheid era, and white youths were legally required to serve in the military. Musk explicitly refused to enlist. His own words: unwilling to join the military to suppress Black people. His mother, Maye, was born in Canada. Using his mother's Canadian heritage, Musk applied for and obtained a Canadian passport, flying to Canada alone at 17.