Heather Merritt is the Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM) at the U.S. Embassy in Pretoria, South Africa. She was previously the U.S. Consul General in Johannesburg, South Africa from 2020-2021.
Heather worked as a Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) in Washington. She was DCM at the U.S. Embassy in Luanda, Angola and had prior diplomatic assignments in Botswana, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, and Mexico. In Washington, she served as an Office Director for Africa and Middle East programs in INL and a Colombia desk officer in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs. She joined the Department of State in 1998.
Heather is a native of Illinois with a B.A. and M.A. in Political Science from Northern Illinois University and an M.S. in National Resource Strategy from the Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy at National Defense University. She is joined in South Africa by her husband and their two children.