South African President Jacob Zuma has suspended his police chief and fired two cabinet ministers amid criticism his administration has not done enough to stop graft.

Mr. Zuma Monday also appointed a Supreme Court judge to run an inquiry into a multi-billion-dollar government arms deal in which he, himself, has been implicated.

The announcement comes after many calls, especially from the COSATU trade federation, for the president to take greater action against corruption. Mr. Zuma is working to re-invigorate diminishing support for his leadership as he nears the December 2012 conference of the African National Congress party, when it will choose its next leader.

COSATU, a key ANC ally, welcomed the anti-corruption steps Monday, saying it hoped “from now on” no public official, no matter how senior, would be allowed to abuse public resources.

The main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, gave tepid approval to Mr. Zuma's announcement, saying it was “better late than never.”

The public prosecutor had found Police Chief Bheki Cele and Public Works Minister Gwen Mahlangu-Nkabinde guilty of failing to get competitive bids when leasing police offices. A board of inquiry will investigate the charges further.

The prosecutor also found Local Government Minister Sicelo Shiceka had used government money to fund lavish hotel stays. In one notorious example, Shiceka is accused of using public funds to pay for a trip to Switzerland to visit his girlfriend who was in jail there on drug charges.

All three deny the charges.

Supreme Court justice Willie Seriti will head the three-judge panel looking into the controversial 1990s arms deal. Questions over the deal have followed Mr. Zuma for years. He was charged with corruption, fraud, money laundering and racketeering, but the charges were dropped shortly before he was elected president in 2009.

Mr. Zuma has said the charges were baseless, but prosecutors maintain their case against Zuma was strong, and they withdrew it only because the process had been tainted.