King Charles and Camilla, the Queen Consort, formally greeted Cyril Ramaphosa at Horse Guards Parade in London as the two-day trip began.
The president visited Westminster Abbey and later will attend a banquet hosted by the King at Buckingham Palace.
Mr Ramaphosa's visit comes as South Africa struggles to tackle continuing power blackouts and high unemployment.
It is the first state visit to the UK in more than three years after they were stopped during the Covid pandemic.
The Prince and Princess of Wales met the South African president at his London hotel on Tuesday morning before escorting him to Horse Guards Parade for the ceremonial welcome with the King.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, along with Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and Home Secretary Suella Braverman, were also at Horse Guards, where the president and King inspected soldiers from the Coldstream Guards.
More than 1,000 soldiers and 230 horses lined up on the parade ground in central London as part of the traditional opening of a state visit.
His Majesty then rode down the Mall with Mr Ramaphosa in a carriage procession to Buckingham Palace.
Gun salutes and a ceremonial welcome from the King and his wife Camilla, the Queen Consort, followed before a grand carriage procession along The Mall to Buckingham Palace, where a banquet will be held later in the president's honor.
Ramaphosa is scheduled to visit Westminster Abbey to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior and see the memorial stone for former South African President Nelson Mandela. He will also address lawmakers in parliament and meet UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
Britain hopes the visit, which had been planned before the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September, will strengthen trade and investment ties between the two nations, and show the importance of links with the Commonwealth of Nations, the international organization which Charles now heads.
"This is a reinforcement of the strong bilateral relationship that we have with South Africa, a real opportunity to build on that close working relationship and discuss some of the issues that affect us all," British Foreign Minister James Cleverly told Reuters.
The last state visit to Britain by a South African leader was that of President Jacob Zuma in 2010 when he was met by Charles and Camilla at the start of the trip.
He will also address MPs in parliament and discuss trade and investment with the prime minister.
Rishi Sunak said: "South Africa is already the UK's biggest trading partner on the continent, and we have ambitious plans to turbocharge infrastructure investment and economic growth together."
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