Pathetic service from Vodacom for taking numbers away from people without alerting them.

My number was taken away from me because I missed April payment, I begged them to give me the number back as prepaid they refused and said I have to get a new number. There was No communication tp alert me of this crucial act, i thought they will just suspend the line if I didn't pay. I'm so frustrated because my phone is been off for a week now, No one wants to help.