The 40-year-old man, whose name cannot be released, told the court he was convicted for rape in 1997 and released from prison in 2005.

He attempted to speak to the court about the merits of the present charges against him but was told he would have to speak to an attorney.

The man faces 33 charges of rape and 33 of attempted murder. The case was postponed to February 10 for the accused to obtain legal aid.

Because of the seriousness of the matter the case would be moved to a High Court at a later stage.

The court requested that the man's name not be published so as to not to jeopardise the case.

The State opposed bail.

The man was arrested on the East Rand on Tuesday for allegedly raping girls between the ages of 10 and 14.

His alleged modus operandi was to find girls playing on streets and lure them into veld and rape them at gunpoint.

Another alleged method was to follow girls from shops or malls and accuse them of using counterfeit money.

While pretending to help them, he would take them to an open field and allegedly rape them.