MTN Contract Non-Fulfilment and Atrocious Customer Service

I accepted a marketing call from an MTN agent on October 25th, 2022. By the end of the call I was signed up for a 24 month contract for uncapped Wi-Fi, beginning November 1st. From the moment I inserted the new MTN SIM card into my modem, I was NEVER able to have Wi-Fi access. To date I have not had access to or been provided a single kilobyte of data from MTN, as per their own contract. My calls and emails to Customer Care went mostly unanswered, while I was given the run around by MTN and/or their technicians. I was however, still debited for a full month of service on December 15th, 2022; for the amount of R688.46. On November 22nd; having reached the limit of my patience and of no contact and avoidance from MTN, I initiated cancellation of the contract. By December 12th I received an email from Thandeka M. at MTN, requesting specific personal information of me; after apologising for the delayed response. I immediately responded with the information she requested. I have not heard anything further until January 4th, 2023; stating that I am to pay a cancellation fee of R688.46. How is it fathomable that a company as big as MTN can avoid fulfilling the conditions of their very own contract? They avoid completely or take unreasonably long to respond to customers trying to get service; yet still debit me for a full month of absolutely NO (not even ONE second) service or data; and I’m expected to still pay more to get out of the contract. How is this not theft?