Vodafone Protect System Down - PHONE BLOCKED

The first time I realised I had Vodafone Protect on one of our family phones was when we placed my SIM card in it and it blocked the phone. We called Vodacom only to be told that their system was down and had been for the last few days and they were unable to assist us to unblock the line....and no guarantee that it would be rectified in 24 hours!! So we just have to wait until Vodacom fixes their system...in the meantime we can do nothing...no banking, calls etc...VERY POOR SERVICE VODACOM.,...ARROGANT AND UNHELPFUL!