In June, the choir decided to take part in a choir festival hosted by the Universities of Potchefstroom and Pretoria in South Africa, and signed a loan agreement with the Polytechnic to make the trip possible.

The institution advanced them the money on condition that it be paid back by November.

Despite numerous fundraising events held during the course of last year, in which the choir says it managed to raise around N$20 000, the institution is yet to receive payment.

The choir members will not be able to register for the next academic year, at least until their joint debt is paid back in full.

"We had a car wash, a braai, and a choir festival where we invited the Poly staff and management," one choir member told The Namibian last week.

"We had a couple of attempts, we even sold raffle tickets, but then we saw that the money (owed to the Polytechnic) was divided into each student's account," the member of the choir management said.

An amount of N$1 645 was added to every student's account, the choir said, and they decided to divide the earnings from the fund-raising among themselves, giving each student about N$500 to help pay their debt.

The affected students also did not receive their examination results, which is customary if a student owes the Polytechnic more than N$500.

The Polytechnic last week remained firm in its policy on debt.

Although Vice Rector Dr Gert Gunzel was unavailable for comment last week, his secretary told The Namibian that the choir members would be treated the same as any other student with outstanding debt.

"It doesn't matter what money is outstanding," she said, "they signed an agreement, and they hadn't paid back the money by the end of November."

Registration at the Polytechnic started on Friday afternoon.

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