Terrible return process

I purchased a few pairs of shoes from Rage on 15 January. I wore one of the pairs for the 1st time on 30 January. When I wore the shoe for the 2nd time I noticed that the soles were coming apart. I tried returning the shoe on Monday 10 February at the Golden Acre store where I purchased it from and the store assistant the had to take pictures to WhatsApp to someone at their call centre while I sat there for almost an hr. The slip states "Cash refunds only on faulty goods within 6 months" however I am still sitting with the same broken pair of shoes as I was told I cannot return them.

The slip clearly states in need to be refunded yet the consultant told me she cannot do anything until she gets feedback from the call centre and they are experiencing signal problems due to loadshedding. How is this my problem when the consultant can see for herself that the shoes are broken and within the 6 month return policy? I wasted an hour in that store.