Barbaric Network

I hadn't recharged my sim card for a month but is registered with my bank. My sister transfered and airtime of R 200 and when I tried using it on the 25th, it wasn't working. I bought a new sim card planning to do a sim swap and I was told the number has been recycled and the airtime is stuck and there's absolutely nothing they can do for me. They can't reinstate the number back to me even though its not issued to anyone else, they can't transfer back the airtime.