C-Max escapee Annanias Mathe made a brief appearance in the Johannesburg High Court on Monday, the SABC reported.

The case was postponed to 4 November to allow the court time to get Mathe (31), a legal representative.

Mathe faces 77 charges including rape, attempted murder, cruelty to animals and housebreaking.

The cases against him were reported in Rustenburg and Lichtenburg in North West, Thabazimbi in Limpopo and several locations in Gauteng.

Mathe made headlines when he escaped from the Pretoria C-Max prison, regarded as the most secure in the country, in November 2006.

He was rearrested several days later.

Mathe's trial is expected to last for five months.

More than 100 witnesses will testify against him.

Sapa