In 1953 the newly elected National Party Minister of Defence, Frans Erasmus, wanting to establish the military academy as a separate, independent, all-service institution decided to relocate the academy to Saldanha, his political constituency. In Pretoria it had catered for army and air force students only. It became a faculty of the University of Stellenbosch, who now awarded a B Mil degree to successful students. The military academy was organisationally divorced from the South African Army College on 1 February 1956. Its headquarters temporarily shifted to Stellenbosch, while suitable accommodation was built at Saldanha which was his own constituency. The headquarters of the military academy moved to Saldanha in December 1957 and in February 1958 the first students, second and third-years, reported at Saldanha.