Worst network provider

I had been a Client with cell c for the past 6 years just before the lockdown my simcard stopped working and I could not go to the store to replace it. I finally got a new simcard to do a sim swap on and now they are refusing to assist me as they had block my account because I did not recharge my sim for the past 3 months. How could I have recharged my sim if the thing is broken.