Terrible service from Telkom

To Whom It May Concern,

On Tuesday, 15 March 2025, Telkom unexpectedly and without warning suspended all of my services. I was unable to make or receive calls, and this left me in a distressing situation—especially after a late school meeting that evening. I was stranded and had no means of getting home. Fortunately, a colleague who happened to still be at school offered me a lift. I am truly grateful to her, as I don’t know how I would have gotten home otherwise.

Between the evenings of 15 and 18 March, many parents attempted to contact me, but I was unable to receive or respond to any calls or messages due to the service suspension. I visited the Telkom store at Vincent Park in East London to report the issue and explain the severity of the situation. The gentleman who assisted me checked the system and confirmed that there was no valid reason for the suspension. He noted that I had never missed a payment and had been a loyal customer for years.

He proceeded to call customer care on my behalf, only to be told that my services were suspended by mistake and that it could only be rectified after 72 hours. This response was infuriating. I am a single woman who lives alone and relies on public transport. For three full days, I was left completely isolated—with no means of contacting anyone, no access to transport, no television, and no way to reach out for help if an emergency occurred.

This experience was both frightening and frustrating. It affected not only my ability to do my job but also compromised my personal safety. The fact that such a mistake could be made so carelessly, and that the resolution took days, is unacceptable.

Only today, Saturday, 19 April, have I finally regained access to my phone. I am extremely disappointed with how Telkom has handled this matter. I expect a full explanation and a serious review of your processes so that no other customer is subjected to this level of inconvenience and distress.

Sincerely, Fezeka Hazel Gora