Number recycled while in daily use without knowledge or consent

Afrihost or MTN suspended my daughters number and gave it out to someone else, despite being in daily use. It was only data being used, but the number received SMS’s for Whatsapp activation, banking authorisations, voice calls, etc, and had been her number for many years.

Suddenly around 24 April it showed ‘no service’ despite nearly 2Gb available and we reported it to Afrihost. We tried the SIM in multiple phones and checked the APN settings but still ‘no service’. On Thursday 28 April Afrihost created a ‘critical care’ ticket which I have followed up daily, being told each day that it may take up to 48 hours to resolve.

On 3 May I tried to call the number again, and discovered that someone else now has her number. What’s more, they have activated their own Whatsapp on my daughter’s number and as a result she has been locked out. Afrihost acknowledge the problem is on their side, or on MTN’s side, but each day they say they are still waiting for a resolution from MTN. It has been 10 days now, and they ask me please to wait – all the time with no Whatsapp connection, no banking, etc, and some random person probably messaging all my daughters friends. This is surely ******* – they have effectively ****** her number.