The money set aside by government to create jobs will be "rigorously" monitored, President Jacob Zuma said on Sunday.

"The performance and monitoring department is going to look at what has happened, there is going to be rigours monitoring as to what is being done by all of us towards creating jobs," Zuma said in an interview on SABC TV.

In his state of the nation address on Thursday, Zuma announced the establishment of a jobs fund of R9-billion over the next three years to finance new job-creation initiatives.

In addition, the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) had set aside R10-billion over the next five years for investment in such economic activities with a high job creation potential, he told parliament.

He also announced R20-billion tax breaks to promote investments, expansions and upgrades in the manufacturing sector.

Zuma also said that government would ensure that vacancies in various departments were filled.

"We are not going to allow vacancies... they must filled," he said.

He also urged the private sector to do its part by hiring graduates who lack work experience.

"How do you allow skilled people to swell the ranks of the unemployed when in fact you could find a way to deal with it," Zuma said.

"Those are the issues we are going to deal with, as we have skilled labour that has no experience, what do with them?

"Instead of allowing huge numbers that come out every year as kids qualify, you are adding numbers to unemployment... is a challenge and we must deal with it.

"We can't just live with them and say because they are not skilled, fine let us let them join the ranks [of unemployment]," he said.