Telkom hands over a very small unpaid account without following procedures and making my life a misery

Around 10 years ago, I transitioned my data, voice and e-mail away from telkomsa.net to a new provider. I chose to keep my telkomsa.net e-mail address until all my accounts etc were transitioned. The cost of this was a mere R15.00 per month. In 2022, I stopped receiving accounts from them and as a result, I stopped paying them. With a small balance of R421.00 owing on the account, and without warning, it appeared that they had handed over the account for collection. They made no attempt to contact me before doing this, and it was only when I went to try and renew my MTN contract, that my credit was declined. I then drew a credit report and discovered this. I Immediately paid the account balance off, and managed (via Social Media) to contact Telkom, who assured me the account had not been handed over, as the credit report stated. In my entire working life, spanning 43 years, this has never happened to me. It caused me acute embarrassment, and the process to clear this default with the credit bureaus is still ongoing. There is no way to speak to a person at Telkom, and I when I visited their branch in Morningside Sandton, no one was able to help me. Telkom did not follow the process of trying to get hold of me or to give me any kind of chance to pay this, and I am now not only not able to get any sort of credit, but am receiving multiple telesales calls, offering me debt solutions. They have informed me it takes 7 working days to clear the default report, but I find this unsatisfactory. Telkom's service has been appalling and I am now at their mercy, for a small account which has now been paid. I am hoping someone from Telkom contacts me, and provides assurance that this will be resolved as it is having dire effects on my personal affairs