ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES

I booked, paid and received a ticket from Ethiopian airlines on 1Otober from Malawi to Johannesburg..only to find out thr airline is not operating as yet! I have booled doctors appoitnmrnts, accommodation, 21st birthday, move of my hpusr and connecting flights to Cape Town. All of which i now have to reschedule. How can they sell flighrs that dont exist? And then dpnt allow them to be refunded only rescheduled?