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Some observations I have on these pref shares - why would one buy them in the first place they all seem to give around 5% to 6.5% which is almost what the CPI is thus you are not going to score in the longer term especially if the CPI turns nasty. I have just extended a Fixed Deposit with a bank at 5.85% for 6 months and I get a tax break on the first R31,000 from SARS. Not sure what the rules are but are pref shares treated as interest income or share dividends - if treated as dividends then you will pay 15% withholding tax on the dividend. To my knowledge the pref share price does not increase to the same extent as the ordinary share price so capital gains could be quite slow paced
Snakepit - not sure what your objective is, but maybe you need to revisit the objective, also if SARS deem these as shares you may well have to hold for 3 years - if so you can get about 8% on a 36 month FD - but with rates likely to go up I wouldn't invest for longer than 6 months at the moment 

Supposedly all OTC shares will cease to trade - the JSE has closed down this operation as there are very few regulations governing these transactions and the purchaser does not have the same protection as they could derive from the controls in place by the JSE.
Preference shares to my knowledge can be bought through your broker - I will check with my brokers as to how I can buy pref shares and if it is not through a broker then I will revert on this forum

Have spoken to my broker - if the pref share is quoted on the JSE then one can trade it like any other share and buy into the pref share using their trading platform. He did warn that pref shares you are buying into an income stream and that dividends are based on a % of the prime interest rate. It would make more sense to buy into the companies shares enjoy the capital appreciation and dividends rather into pref shares, unless you only interest is the dividend stream

Should be interesting to see at what price it opens and ultimately closes on 18th - last traded at R 7.45 on 30th May 2014 when it was suspended as an over the counter traded share

I think CML's share price is being hurt due to their extensive holdings in ABIL - reputed to be north of R 127 million but really a small % of their total funds under management

Daly my money only arrived in the broker account today, so I missed the really low prices but did a few more...

Surely you have an arrangement with your broker that you can transfer funds by EFT and they update your broker account immediately so that you can buy shares within that limit?

The question as to what is enough is really what your needs and wants are, and the lifestyle you want to maintain.
 Let me relate 2 stories:- My father served in the war, had a regular job and worked until age 60 and retired 33 years ago. He always owned his own house and 8 years ago sold his house and moved to a retirement village in Somerset West. His pension of R 13,000 (rental R 8,700) on the face of it plus income from R 1.4 mill met their limited needs of shelter, and sustenance. However age caught up with them and 2 years ago their entire financial needs changed:- I had to employ care givers to look after them (R 10,000 per month) rent and food and utilities remained the same, pharmacy accounts ranged between R 500 and R 1,000 per month and medical costs over and above medical aid settlements another R 300 per month. Family made a decision to relocate parents to a frail care facility at an all inclusive cost of R 22,000 per month for both parents - medical and pharmacy costs didn't change nor did income from pension or investment returns.
Was/is my parent finances adequate - I don't really know, my father passed away last month and my Mom will now experience a 50% payout on my Dad's pension but her rental is 2.2 times this income, will she survive on her and my Dad's investments - yes I believe she will for the next 4 years.
Moving to the next scenario:-
My pension is more than R500,000 per annum and I have investments of + R 3.0 million, a living annuity that I drawn down the minimum 2.5 % p.a., a house fully paid for and 2 cars (paid off). do I think this is enough - absolutely not - I have absolutely no idea what medical costs will be when I am in my 80/90's (my family has a history of long levity), what major operations I might be subjected to (bypass surgery today is astronomical) and what care I may require in the future. It is senseless considering your house as an asset, it is merely a bargaining chip for where you ultimately decide to rest your bones. So my sense is that I probably need to double or even triple my investments by the time I reach 80 which is in 13 years time.
So wealth is directly related to the lifestyle you want to live versus your needs and medical costs, and the type of medical/health care that you may require in the future - which is unpredictable. A simple experience like a stroke can change your life and circumstance dramatically.
So sit in a chair in a quiet corner of your lounge and ponder all the medical option that can befall you and then decide what is enough to sustain you
A reality check is always refreshing
             

Really cool Patrick - you should use the highways now that e toll is running - would certainly give Sanral a headache tracking you down or even charging you for usage

Well you do need a lot of shares to create a dividend income, but my solution for that is share installments and any other derivative that has gearing and very little time decay, like, and correct me if I am wrong, CFD's.

For example, share installments are geared 2 to 1. Of course you do not get geared derivatives on all shares, but that I will figure out how to do. For now I just want to get the nitty gritty out of the way.

Share installments are ok but there are tax implications with them as they normally have a currency of one year and from a SARS perspective this would be seen as trading versus investing. So to get out from under the trading umbrella you would have to buy in at a price that may not be suitable