Unauthorised Contract Renewal and Debt Collection Harassment by Vodacom

I am writing to formally lodge a complaint against Vodacom South Africa regarding account I***-7. The level of administrative incompetence, lack of internal communication, and blatant disregard for consumer rights I have experienced is completely unacceptable.

1. The Background and First Handover

My data contract was set to expire in April 2026. Following correct procedures, I contacted Vodacom in March 2026 to initiate the cancellation. I was shockingly informed that my account was in arrears, despite Vodacom debiting my account monthly. I was handed over to HP Attorneys for an amount under R1,000, which I immediately paid.

2. Double Handover and System Discrepancies

Despite my line being long suspended and having already dealt with one law firm, I was contacted by a completely different law firm in August 2026 demanding a further ~R400. To make matters worse, whenever I called Vodacom Collections (***), the automated system explicitly stated that my account was not in arrears.

3. The Runaround on 21 August 2026

On Friday, 21 August 2026, I spent over two hours being bounced between agents, forced to re-authenticate and re-explain my story repeatedly. Zuko Nthoyake processed a payment of R395.28 with me. I sent the Proof of Payment (PoP). She promised allocation within 30 minutes and told me to call Cancellations by 2:00 PM.

When I called back, nobody could find my PoP at ***. Gloria Modise then made me generate a second PoP and send it to ***.

Once allocated, the Cancellations department told me I could not cancel because the account was suspended, instructing me to call Collections again to lift the suspension.

During this exhausting cycle, I also spoke to Vuyolethu Gina, Shibu Mokwela, and Nompilo Zondo, none of whom offered a meaningful resolution.

4. The Unauthorised Contract Renewal

At the end of this ordeal, I was informed for the first time that my contract had been renewed until 2027. This was done entirely without my knowledge or consent. Vodacom must answer the following:

How, why, and when was a suspended, in-arrears contract renewed without consumer consent?

Why do my monthly statements show absolutely no record of this renewal?

Why have I received zero documentation regarding this extension?

5. Broken Promises by Management (24 August 2026)

On 21 August 2026, I spoke to Lusanda Polo Bukhosini (Cancellations Manager). He conceded that Vodacom seemingly acted unfairly, promised to escalate the matter to Fiona Ndhlovu, and guaranteed that either he or Fiona would call me back on Monday, 24 August 2026.

No call came. Today, 24 August, my follow-ups revealed a web of lies: At 12:42, agent Lungile promised to tell Lusanda to call me urgently. 30 minutes later, agent Talente informed me that Lusanda was not even at work today. She then claimed Fiona Ndhlovu was also absent.

I escalated to Salome Rajgopal (Manager), who offered no solutions and bizarrely claimed she had "no clue" who the Head of Cancellations was. I was finally pushed to Jasper Padayachee, who made me repeat my entire history because Vodacom apparently lacks a functional query tracking system. He requested time to investigate, but given Vodacom's track record of broken promises, I have zero trust in this word.

If this is not resolved swiftly, my next step is a formal escalation to ICASA, the National Consumer Commission (NCC) and review other legal avenues.