Ridiculous Sim Swap Process

I lost my number on the 1st Jan 2022 and went to a service center today the 5th to get a sim swap done. I was advised that it was impossible to get my number back as it was Rica registered under a different person's details. Understandably so, I then required information on another process to proving that I was using the number from the date of it activation and there seem to be no process after that whatsoever. Telkom has people all over giving away simcards, basically meaning once you take one and use it, the day you loose it means you'll have to settle for losing the number forever. This is such an inconvenience especially for a person like me using the number for business reasons. I know with another service provider it requires an affidavit with a certified copy ID if this is a case with a number, what about Telkom? My number was ***.