Hi Every one ! hope you all have had a super new year !!

I have a bit of a strange scenario and hopefully someone could offer me some advice

I moved to South Africa 4 years ago - and set myself up with a job and car , got out a few loans and store cards etc
these loans and store cards were being paid on a regular basis via debit order.

anyway - 2 years later (start of 2010) I moved back home ( to the UK) - and closed my bank account where my debits were coming out of as a good friend of mine had agreed that I could pay my debit order amounts into their account and they would pay my accounts for me -
( he had his UK account linked to his Nedbank account ) the intention was that after 1.2 years of payments my accounts and loans should be paid off

mid 2011 myself and my partner decided to move back to SA but to buy a house first - I then applied for a bond only to discover that I had been rejected by at least 2 banks - I then checked my credit report and it turns out that non of my accounts have been paid at all ! so my good friend was infact not a friend at all !

I had 4 store accounts - and these should have been paid off with the regular payments I have been sending my friend and closed by now - but on my report it says bad debt written off

I had 2 larger amount loans with - absa and a CC with standard bank both of which are quite large amounts and these have not been paid either .

I have no intention of letting these debts go unpaid - however i am seriously concerned that once these have been paid that I will continue to have a very bad rating - Since im looking to buy a house this is not ideal .

My question is - is there anyone that I could speak to and explain my situation to or is there anyway I could get these default removed from my report after the debt have been paid ?

I will be going to SA on hols in march and my mum mentioned that maybe I could get an affidavit from the police stating these debts going into arrears should not have happened etc - would this help ?

He is a family friend and I have known him since we were both toddlers - so I had no reason to not trust him , he was like my brother, he has been MIA for a long time - and his folks have not seen him for a over a year either , apparently he got into some trouble with Narcotics - Non the less I have put this down to be a huge learning experience and I really just want to put this behind me but don't really know how to go about doing that or where to start - hope fully someone could offer some advice ?

any help would be greatly appreciated

thanks Mellissa