In 1991 South Africa began talks with France about replacing their aging Mirage F1CZ's. With the governmental transition away from apartheid just around the corner and the impending end to the arms embargo, France was open to the sale. In 1994, with the election of Nelson Mandela, South Africa acquired 21 Mirage 2000C's and 11 Mirage 2000B's. This purchase was meant to augment the locally developed Atlas Cheetah C and D which were multirole and neither specialized for ground attack or intercept.
The South African Air Force mirages were designated the Mirage 2000CZ Leopard. South Africa requested some version specific additions in order to be compatible with their current inventory of weapons across their existing platforms, the main one being the Danel Dynamics R Darter BVR missile. These aircraft were also further adapted to the air to ground role. The Mirage 2000CZ would be South Africa's premier air to air fighter.
Credit for the base skin goes to RockMyRoot
