Telkom Mobile BAD SERVICE

On the night of the 6th of January 2021, i experienced a major network issue whereby I was unable to use my internet, whatsapp, and all the apps on my phone. My network connection just disappeared and it took a while to come back. I received sms's saying that my internet access has been paused and that i have to sign in to a Telkom network. This all happened while I had 15GB of Telkom data on my phone. As soon as the reception was restored, it was choppy and very unreliable. I was unable to access apps such as Facebook and TikTok, I was unable to view Whatsapp statuses, and to use my cellphone as a hotspot to connect to on my laptop. I wasn't able to play any online games and I couldn't use the internet. Everything was messed up. I decided to phone Telkom multiple times, and as soon as I made it pass the question "which language would you prefer", the call would just hang up. I had someone call from an alternative cellphone number, and also Telkom registered, but they experienced the same problem. I then had to try several times and click options unrelated to my issue, and then only I managed to reach an agent. I explained what my problem was, and they simply told me to navigate to my settings, switch off data roaming, choose a network carrier and to select the "Telkom-StayAtHome 4G" option, and then finally to restart my phone. I followed all these steps, only to find that the network issue persists, even though I am registered on a 4G network! Instead, my network reception toggles between 2 and 4 bars, and even when I have 5 bars, I still cannot do much on my phone. We have about 3 telkom users in our household, and all of us are experiencing the same network issues, and whenever I am not in my area of residence, my network suddenly behaves normally and I am able to access the internet with ease. I therefore think that the tower in our area or closest to our area (Heideveld, Cape Town) must be faulty. Either that or customers are just being treated badly. I know that calling Telkom wouldn't help solve this problem, as I have done this so many times but reach no solution. I am beyond upset because this network issue is rendering my smartphone, which I am paying for every month, useless. I am a student and I have just recently received data courtesy of my university for research purposes, which I am unable to use because we have a bad network reception. It has been two weeks now, and this problem is unresolved. This is pathetic, and I cannot believe I have a smartphone which I cannot use for anything, but paying for every month as it is on contract.