October is marked as Mental Health Awareness Month in South Africa with many institutions creating awareness around this issue. One of those is the Ikusasa Student Financial Aid Programme, they are drawing attention to a severe yet frequently overlooked risk to higher education success: the intersection of rising financial stress, online gambling, and student mental health. Across South Africa's tertiary campuses, financial pressure leads some students, including those receiving bursary allowances, to seek supplementary income through online betting platforms, echoing the broader national trends highlighted by the South African Responsible Gambling Foundation research. What often begins as a response to cost-of-living challenges or household financial demands can lead to heightened anxiety, debt, and academic strain. To talk to us more on this, Thami Ngubeni spoke to Sifanele Biyela, Corporate Partnerships and Operations Executive at Ikusasa Student Financial Aid Programme