refusal to do sim swap

My bag and phone were ****** through a smash and grab. I went to MTN to do a sim swap on a spare phone and they refused to do it as i dont have my ID as it was ******. I do have mu SA passport and am a Citizen and have been with MTN for years. ID number is written on the passport. I find this outrageous and illogical. I am now stuck without business numbers etc and noone can contact me,=.Surely under the circumstances they could make an exception.