Recycled phone number

I've been with Vodacom for over 10 years on prepaid. The last 4 months in 2018 I didn't use my phone because I received a business phone. When I tried to use the phone again, the sim card did not work. I've contacted Vodacom Care Center and sent messages on their Facebook page and got the answer that my number have been recycled because of the sim being inactive for 3 months. According to the very unfriendly and unhelpful Call Center agents, because I was on prepaid the number can not be retrieved again. When I call the number, the number does not exist. I cant access my Whatsapp on my new device and a lot of my accounts and cards are still linked to that number.