Paid Incorrect Beneficiary from Standard to Capitec Bank - Where's my money gone?

On the 26th July I erroneously paid an amount from my Standard Bank internet account to the wrong beneficiary - a Capitec account. I had paid this beneficiary before using the same account number and did not know that anything had changed. I have other beneficiaries with the same surname and misread an initial on the list. My bad. I contacted this beneficiary to request that they send me back the money. I know this beneficiary and have no reason to distrust him. He explained that he had closed this account and suggested I wait a few days for the funds to bounce back. Nothing happened and after a few days he kindly contacted Capitec to check if his account was open and he could not get a definitive answer except to agree that it was closed. He checked at an ATM with his old card and it will not allow him access to the account. I phoned Capitec and they explained that the owner of the account would have to assist, but they cannot give me the name and details of the account holder - I now have no solution to recover my approx. R 6,000. 1. Has this account number been recycled? Is this a common practice? Surely more than a couple of years must elapse before an account is recycled - if at all? 2. Can any person explain how I can recover this money? The call centre lady was very friendly, but could not assist me further.